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Apache says ASL2.0 is GPL-compatible
Steve Loughran writes "The ASF board have put up on the Apache Web site, a page
rebutting claims that the new ASL2.0 license is incompatible with the GPL, claims made by on an
FSF page and covered in
Slashdot last week.The key points are (1) The interpretation of the GPL license is not just the opinions of individuals in the FSF, it is designed to be rigorously defendable in a court of law.
(2) Rather than look at opinions about compatibility, people should look at the
ASF2.0 and GPL licenses to see if they really are compatible.
(3) If you look at the two licenses, they really are compatible.
This means there is nothing to stop you linking your [L]GPL apps against apache libraries, shipping them with apache applications, and the like." Of course, this is still up to debate.
It also says that versions 1.0 and 1.1 of the ASF License are incompatible... why are we only hearing about this with version 2.0?
libertarianswag.com
How about looking at it in terms of economic motivation? For certain types of people (arguably, most people), the GPL provides incentive to create free software where otherwise one wouldn't have bothered. Without the GPL, some of them might begrudgingly release code under a public domain-ish license, but most these people would either be coding proprietary software or not at all.
Which world would you rather have? A world with the GPL as a licensing option, or a world without it? The first world has more free software available, software that respects the rights of the user instead of trying to control the user through EULAs and insidious distribution terms. Regardless of the moaning of anti-GPL types like yourself I'll take the first world where I have more choice as a user and as a creative producer. Begrudging others of their choices when it comes at no cost to you is simply ridiculous. Nobody is going to be sympathetic to your whining because you can't have others' work on YOUR terms.
LRC, the best-read libertarian site on the web
Have you, erm, looked at the Apache Software Foundation project list lately?
This isn't just about a license for the Apache HTTP server. In fact, it isn't even just about ASF projects either, since it offers independent developers a new choice of license to easily release their code under.
My read of the revised license [IANAL] is that it isn't compatible. Apache makes several bogus arguments, namely: 1) Our software doesn't have patents anyway; and 2) ASL(3) is comparable to GPL(7).
Argument (1) is bogus because other people can release software under the ASL. For example Bob & Mimi can release their (individually patented) package under the ASL, and you have a grant under the ASL to USE and redistribute.
Argument (2) is bogus because when you sue Bob for violating your software patent, you can no longer USE Mimi's portion of the software without violating her patent.
GPL Clause 7 only talks about REDISTRIBUTION. So if this had been GPL software, you would no longer distribute because you'd be distributing what you claim to be your patented technology, but you could still USE it.
The problem is when you want to take some code that is already licensed under the GPL and combine it with ASL2.0 licensed code. All of a sudden you have a tool that compiles and works well, but can't be legally distributed.
The fact of the matter is that the FSF controls the copyrights to a big fat pile of source code, and if they say that derivatives of their GPLed source can't be combined with ASL2.0 source and legally distributed, then folks are going to listen to the FSF.
Since the FSF has a long history of not changind their stance on what is GPL-compatible there is an equally long history of projects changing their licenses to get the FSF blessing. Being cut off from using the millions of lines of FSF GPLed code is simply too big a deal. The Python license is a good example, as is the old QPL license (that QT used to use).