Dear Members of the Apache Incubator, I hope this email finds you well. My name is Alex Porcelli, and I am part of the Apache KIE podling community [1]. I am reaching out to discuss a matter regarding a dependency we have under LGPL, which falls under Category X according to Apache guidelines.
The dependency is Hibernate ORM [2], the only supported JPA provider for Quarkus [3] - the primary runtime provider for Apache KIE podling. However, I'd like to emphasize the urgency of our situation. Our community has dedicated substantial effort over the past six months to prepare for our initial Apache release. Unfortunately, this delay in releasing Apache KIE is unprecedented for this community, and it is critical for us to deliver new releases promptly. Not only does our large user base eagerly anticipate a new release, but older versions may also pose security vulnerabilities (CVEs). Additionally, with our previous release process through Red Hat decommissioned, Apache now stands as our sole means of distribution. Given these circumstances, I kindly ask the Apache Incubator to consider granting us a temporary exception to maintain the LGPL dependency for our initial releases. We understand the importance of adhering to Apache licensing requirements and are willing to make necessary adjustments while ensuring compliance. However, we believe that allowing us to proceed with proper disclaimers in place would enable us to maintain momentum and meet the expectations of our user community. Furthermore, I would like to inform you that the Hibernate team is in the process of relicensing from LGPL to ASLv3, as indicated in their recent blog post [4]. This transition aligns with our long-term goals and demonstrates our commitment to compliance with Apache guidelines. We are open to any guidance or suggestions from the Incubator PMC on how best to proceed. Thank you for considering our request. Best regards, Alex Porcelli Apache KIE Podling Community Member [1] - Apache KIE: https://kie.apache.org/ [2] - Hibernate ORM: https://hibernate.org/orm/ [3] - Quarkus: https://quarkus.io/ [4] - Blog post on relicensing: https://in.relation.to/2023/11/18/license/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org
