Re: Question about license
Hi 'hultul', On Sat, 2007-03-31 at 10:18 +0900, hultul wrote: > I'm developing JVM implementation which uses GNU Classpath as runtime > class library. > I have two questions about the license of GPLv2 with GNU Classpath > Exception, though I'm not sure whether those questions are adequate > for GNU Classpath community. Since this is a developer list focused on code it is best is to ask specific legal questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] They are happy to answer any legal question around free software, there is also the Software Freedom Law Center http://www.softwarefreedom.org/ that handles such things. For proprietary software you can also contact the FSF Compliance Lab http://www.fsf.org/licensing/compliance.html > 1. Can I bundle GNU Classpath binary without any modification and my > JVM(thought to be not under GPL), and distribute that not under GPL? > > 2. If I make some proprietary classes(e.g. java.lang.ClassLoader) be > loaded prior to GNU Classpath's classes, am I modify GNU Classpath? If > so, are those proprietary classes and/or JVM implementation should be > under GPL? If you combine GNU Classpath with independent modules to produce an executable you can copy and distribute the resulting executable under terms of your choice. See http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/license.html and http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/faq/faq.html#faq2_1 But we do of course hope you will release your program as free software under the GPL whenever possible to share with the community. We try to set things up so that you don't have to override or change any of the core classes directly (they should be [and are!] easily sharable between lots of runtimes). For the connection between ClassLoader and the runtime there is VMClassLoader which handles all VM interaction. See http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/docs/vmintegration.html Please do let us know if these VM/Platform interfaces are not flexible enough, we would love to help and improve them. Cheers, Mark
Re: Question about license
Thanks, all. I asked [EMAIL PROTECTED] my question after that I had read replies. FSF replied that charged consulting service($150/30min) were proposed for the answer of my question if I'd want it, otherwise http://www.fsf.org/licensing/education was recommended.
Re: Question about license
Audrius Meskauskas writes: > I think, you can link your code with GNU Classpath library regardless on > how nasty license your code has, and distribute this combination. And > likely you can make various tricks with class loaders as well as long as > you do not modify the original GNU Classpath code. > > If you modify any single line of the GNU Classpath, this is another > story. Then, I think, you must release the modified version of > Classpath (not all your JRE) under the same GPL+Exception license. Where does it say that? Andrew.
Re: Question about license
Andrew Haley wrote: Audrius Meskauskas writes: > I think, you can link your code with GNU Classpath library regardless on > how nasty license your code has, and distribute this combination. And > likely you can make various tricks with class loaders as well as long as > you do not modify the original GNU Classpath code. It is clearly written in http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/license.html . > > If you modify any single line of the GNU Classpath, this is another > story. Then, I think, you must release the modified version of > Classpath (not all your JRE) under the same GPL+Exception license. Where does it say that? Andrew. Modifying and then compiling into executable is not just linking. Linking is when you l ink with unchanged code. Hence this case is not covered by our linking exception. Hence, for this case, for the GNU Classpath code, all GPL terms apply: "you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. " The GPL terms does not extend to the code of the proprietary JRE because in the linking exception is written that "If you modify this library, you may extend this exception to your version of the library". If the exception is extended, the modified version can be linked with the proprietary code as well, the modified versions can be released, but this does not free from the duty to release the modified code of the GNU Classpath part. There is a good FAQ on various GPL related questions at http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/license.html. Apart the GPL itself, this is the main source I used to produce my answer. While, I repeat, I am not a lawyer, sometimes I observe a little bit of FUD around the GPL. Because of this, I decided to reply to the initiating message. Audrius Audrius.
Re: Question about license
hultul wrote: Hi, I'm developing JVM implementation which uses GNU Classpath as runtime class library. I have two questions about the license of GPLv2 with GNU Classpath Exception, though I'm not sure whether those questions are adequate for GNU Classpath community. 1. Can I bundle GNU Classpath binary without any modification and my JVM(thought to be not under GPL), and distribute that not under GPL? 2. If I make some proprietary classes(e.g. java.lang.ClassLoader) be loaded prior to GNU Classpath's classes, am I modify GNU Classpath? If so, are those proprietary classes and/or JVM implementation should be under GPL? I think, you can link your code with GNU Classpath library regardless on how nasty license your code has, and distribute this combination. And likely you can make various tricks with class loaders as well as long as you do not modify the original GNU Classpath code. If you modify any single line of the GNU Classpath, this is another story. Then, I think, you must release the modified version of Classpath (not all your JRE) under the same GPL+Exception license. The simplest way would be just to contribute changes to this project, this protects from making your changes incompatible with the future changes, made during the later development of GNU Classpath. I am not a lawyer and can only express my own opinion. Please read http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/license.html yourself. Audrius
Question about license
Hi, I'm developing JVM implementation which uses GNU Classpath as runtime class library. I have two questions about the license of GPLv2 with GNU Classpath Exception, though I'm not sure whether those questions are adequate for GNU Classpath community. 1. Can I bundle GNU Classpath binary without any modification and my JVM(thought to be not under GPL), and distribute that not under GPL? 2. If I make some proprietary classes(e.g. java.lang.ClassLoader) be loaded prior to GNU Classpath's classes, am I modify GNU Classpath? If so, are those proprietary classes and/or JVM implementation should be under GPL?
