This is a really a very thorny issue indeed. As an example from a recent discussion: a library licensed under LGPLv2.1 is used by an application licensed under Apache Software License 2.0. On the surface, this appear to be no problem, as the LGPL allows for linking into works that are covered under other licenses, even licenses that are not LGPL-compatible. However, if the library is *statically linked* into the resulting work, now there is a problem: in this context, the LGPLv2.1 effectively 'upgrades' to the GPLv2, and the ASL is not GPLv2-compatible.
How could such a situation be represented in a column in a license list? The only reasonable course of action would be to put an asterisk in that column and make a statement that the licenses *may* or *may not* be compatible depending on the exact particulars of the distribution mechanism... and that same statement would apply to all license combinations (except for the very obvious ones as Jilayne already pointed out). On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 3:16 AM, Jari Aalto <[email protected]> wrote: > 2012-10-30 20:37 Jilayne Lovejoy <[email protected]>: > | Oh well, yes, that information is certainly helpful, I would agree! But > it > | involves exactly the kind of legal interpretation that we cannot give. > | > | Reasonable attorneys may disagree what is "compatible." (...) does not > | mean a court would agree with the FSF > | > | (...) our goal with SPDX is to present the facts, not give legal advice > > Understandable. > > Unfortunately this issue is very important as Linux distributions and > Software in general are compiled from sources that are released under > various licenses. The yard stick in most cases is the GPL compatibility. > > As SPDX list is the "authorative" source which all refer to, it would be > helpful if there were links to other sites that have compiled compatibility > lists. > > SUGGESTION > > Add to the end of page > > http://spdx.org/licenses/ > > <legal blurp; the information provided by these sites is only that, not > necessarily legally valid until proven in court, but which still may > prove useful> > > http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html > https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Licensing:Main?rd=Licensing > http://www.antepedia.com/pages/community.html > > I'd like to thank Guillaume Rousseau, who sent me link to Antepedia page > that has been very informative. > > Jari > > _______________________________________________ > Spdx-legal mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.spdx.org/mailman/listinfo/spdx-legal >
_______________________________________________ Spdx-legal mailing list [email protected] https://lists.spdx.org/mailman/listinfo/spdx-legal
