Hi Tim, On Sun, 2005-11-13 at 23:32 +0000, Tim Ellison wrote: > Mark Wielaard wrote: > > I believe people are really reluctant to hack on the [new] code > > while there is a legal limbo whether it can be included into the > > other code bases out there > > I hope that I've misunderstood your comments Mark, because it would of > course be wrong for people to suspend development on FSF and ASF java > implementations -- jchevm, bootJVM, classpath, kaffe, etc. while > awaiting a resolution of the 'legal limbo'.
Of course. (I added the word new to clarify.) What I meant was that people are really reluctant to make efforts collaborating while there is a legal limbo whether the resulting code can be mixed and matched with their existing projects. Since currently this new code is only available under the ASLv2 there is nothing much to do then wait for a resolution that makes the code available under terms that are usable to the existing projects that value being GPL-compatible. I am hopeful however that might happen soon. But I know there are a lot of people skeptical so we have to show them that this is really what we want. There is enough to do on GNU Classpath and the other projects so don't worry about suspending development while making the license resolutions happen. But clearly it would be nicer if the legal limbo was resolved and we could actually integrate and merge the code. > > and whether it is meant as a project to enhance all the existing > > projects or just another project on the side. So I see resolving this > > issues as a high priority. > > I wasn't involved in writing the Harmony project proposal, but it seems > to be quite clearly targeting a java implementation and not a generic > license compatibility project. I suggest that a java-only resolution > would be sub-optimal anyway. Right. Geir has made apologies for the original announcement so lets not go there again. You can read all about it in the mailinglist archives and the blogs around that time if you are really interested. Clearly several people wouldn't have signed the original proposal if the main goal wasn't collaboration and trying to resolve any (perceived legal) barriers for cooperation and reusing as much common code as possible. But we did sign it because we agreed to work on harmony between the communities. The poorly worded announcement didn't make that very clear. But we unfortunately didn't have any say in that because it was never sent for review. > However, I have no influence in the FSF or ASF :-) so I'll refrain from > further debate, like others on the list who are clearly smarter than me! Of course you have influence! And I haven't seen anybody on this list smarter then you. Just give your opinion on how this issue should be solved. There have been several proposals on the list. Most people seem to favor asking all contributors to make sure that code is available under terms that are both ASL and GPL compatible. Maybe you have an opinion on that. Then you could say so. Or maybe being the originator of the patch, as in IBM, you could just make an example of how you think it should be done and make the contribution (also) available under terms that are acceptable to all parties involved. We are all peers and your actions and opinions shape those of the group as a whole. Cheers, Mark -- Escape the Java Trap with GNU Classpath! http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/java-trap.html Join the community at http://planet.classpath.org/
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