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Facebook Petitioned To Change License For ReactJS (github.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the Apache-License-v2.0-and-GPL-2-v2.0 dept.

mpol writes: The Apache Software Foundation issued a notice last weekend indicating that it has added Facebook's BSD+Patents [ROCKSDB] license to its Category X list of disallowed licenses for Apache Project Management Committee members. This is the license that Facebook uses for most of its open source projects. The RocksDB software project from Facebook already changed its license to a dual Apache 2 and GPL 2. Users are now petitioning on GitHub to have Facebook change the license of React.JS as well.

React.JS is a well-known and often used JavaScript Framework for frontend development. It is licensed as BSD + Patents. If you use React.JS and agreed to its license, and you decide to sue Facebook for patent issues, you are no longer allowed to use React.JS or any Facebook software released under this license.

4 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Actual License: https://github.com/facebook/rea by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm afraid I'm going to have to retract part of my note. The ReactJS license if fine: it was the patent encumbered RocksDB license, which that was the issue.

    RocksDB has already corrected the issue on their end, their new license file is at https://github.com/facebook/ro.... It was corrected a week ago today.

  2. Re:Actual License: https://github.com/facebook/rea by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > This is a ridiculous argument. The number of words in a document does not indicate how comprehensible that document is.

    Or how safe. In many contracts, the devil is in the details. GPL has evolved to a longer license, and explicitly included patents in GPLv3, because various companies and individuals have tried to legally and illegally violate its stated goals. The more explicit license of GPL has helped protect us from monopoly control of media and of data, and is now helping protect developers and computer users from patent abuse.

  3. Re:Actual License: https://github.com/facebook/rea by hord · · Score: 3, Insightful

    GNU and the FSF have their own version of "Freedom" that is used as the philosophical basis for their licensing. It's a completely different mindset from the people that use MIT/BSD licensing.

  4. Re:Stupid by hord · · Score: 3

    From what I have seen, React is actually pretty streamlined. You can dump HTML straight into a rendering function. Angular (especially 2) is a horrible nightmare that requires a PhD in Angular just to understand. And when you talk about bloat... write an application on which platform? I'd like to be O/S ambivalent solution which is what? Good luck with any dynamic language. What's left... Java? Bloat? HAHAHAHA.

    Face it. We're all doomed.