I think Apache has many restrictions on what can be kept inside it. Also without the right information we cannot make a decision. For instance, if IP donation and SGA are requirements, keeping the HAL inside Apache is a blocker.
For Espressif it is fine, because their license is already Apache and they have already signed the SGA in the past. However, we need to consider how we will handle vendors who cannot comply for some reason. BR, Alan On Wed, Sep 30, 2026 at 3:02 PM Gregory Nutt <[email protected]> wrote: > > +1 for Alin idea to have HAL under Apache license and umbrella in order to > keep coherent and secure SBOM.. > > I believe this would require an IP Clearance and possibly an SGA. > > "IP clearance<https://incubator.apache.org/ip-clearance/index.html> is > used to import code bases from outside Apache for future development > here." https://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html#category-x > > The above statement seems to exactly describe the in-tree HAL case. > Basically, the ASF will not accept the legal liabilities of simply taking > some one else's code and hosting it in a project repository with no legal > licensing documentation, especially if it is a substantial body of code > that will be incorporated into the ASF project. > > IP clearance details: > https://incubator.apache.org/ip-clearance/index.html > > Alin is the expert on IP clearance and went through all of this in the > past. > > Using an external library in the link does not cause these problems in my > understanding. > >
