[Discussioni] MS attaca la GPL

[alceste a emiliano.bomb.machine]

On Wed, Jun 27, 2001 at 10:18:03AM +0200, Francesco Potorti` wrote:
> Alceste Scalas:   
>    Per stare piu` vicini alla GNU GPL, si puo` fare anche l'esempio
>    del Reiser File System [...]
>    
> Interessantissimo, è proprio questo l'esempio che cercavo.
> 
> Qual è l'opinione della FSF riguardo ad una doppia licenza di questo
> tipo? 

Purtroppo non saprei... Penso che, di sicuro, se un programmatore
vuole fornire il copyright dei suoi sorgenti anche alla FSF (in modo
da riceverne un eventuale supporto legale, in caso di violazioni della
GNU GPL), allora puo` scordarsi della doppia licenza. Ma questo mi
sembra pacifico.

Mi viene pero` in mente un altro caso di doppia licenza: quello di
MySQL. E questo e` ancora piu` particolare di quello del ReiserFS,
vista l'interpretazione che si fa della GNU GPL: anche la connessione
per una query al database MySQL e` intesa come "linking", e come tale
e` vincolata dalla GNU GPL.

Incollo qui di seguito cio` che si puo` leggere sul manuale di MySQL
(dove si puo` notare, tra l'altro, anche la solita confusione tra
software "proprietario" e "commerciale", e la definizione "virale"
della GNU GPL).

Ciao,

Alceste

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3.1 MySQL Licensing Policy

   The formal terms of the GPL license can be found at section L GNU General
   Public License. Basically, our licensing policy and intepretation of the
   GPL is as follows:

   [...]

   For normal internal use, MySQL costs nothing. You do not have to pay us if
   you do not want to.

   A license is required if:

     * You link a part of the of MySQL that has a GPL Copyright to a program
       that is not free software (embedded usage of the MySQL server). In
       this case your application would also become GPL through the clause in
       the GPL license that acts as a virus. By licensing MySQL from us under
       a commercial license you will avoid this problem.
     * You have a commercial application that ONLY works with MySQL and ships
       the application with the MySQL server. This is because we view this as
       linking even if it is done over the network.
     * You have a distribution of MySQL and you don't provide the source code
       for your copy of the MySQL server, as defined in the GPL license.

   [...]

   For circumstances under which a MySQL license is required, you need a
   license per machine that runs the mysqld server.

   [...]

3.2 Copyrights Used by MySQL

   There are several different copyrights on the MySQL distribution:

    1. The MySQL-specific source needed to build the mysqlclient library is
       licensed under the LGPL and programs in the `client' directory is GPL.
       Each file has a header that shows which copyright is used for that
       file.
    2. The client library and the (GNU getopt) library are covered by the
       ``GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE.'' See section M GNU Library
       General Public License.
    3. Some parts of the source (the regexp library) are covered by a
       Berkeley-style copyright.
    4. All the source in the server and the (GNU readline) library is covered
       by the ``GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE.'' See section L GNU General
       Public License. This is also available as the file `COPYING' in the
       distributions.

   One goal is that the SQL client library should be free enough that it is
   possible to add MySQL support into commercial products without a license.
   For this reason, we chose the LGPL license for the client code.

   [...]

3.3 Example Licensing Situations

  3.3.1 Selling Products that use MySQL

   To determine whether or not you need a MySQL license when selling your
   application, you should ask whether the proper functioning of your
   application is dependent on the use of MySQL and whether you include the
   MySQL server with your product. There are several cases to consider:

     * Does your application require MySQL to function properly?
     * If your product requires MySQL, you need a license for any machine
       that runs the mysqld server. For example, if you've designed your
       application around MySQL, then you've really made a commercial product
       that requires the engine, so you need a license.
     * If your application does not require MySQL, you need not obtain a
       license. For example, if using MySQL just adds some new optional
       features to your product (such as adding logging to a database if
       MySQL is used rather than logging to a text file), it should fall
       within normal use, and a license would not be required.
     * In other words, you need a license if you sell a product designed
       specifically for use with MySQL or that requires the MySQL server to
       function at all. This is true whether or not you provide MySQL for
       your client as part of your product distribution.
     * It also depends on what you're doing for the client. Do you plan to
       provide your client with detailed instructions on installing MySQL
       with your software? Then your product may be contingent on the use of
       MySQL; if so, you need to buy a license. If you are simply tying into
       a database that you expect already to have been installed by the time
       your software is purchased, then you probably don't need a license.

   [...]

  3.3.2 ISP MySQL Services

   Internet Service Providers (ISPs) often host MySQL servers for their
   customers. With the GPL license this does not require a license.

   [...]

  3.3.3 Running a Web Server Using MySQL

   If you use MySQL in conjunction with a Web server on Unix, you don't have
   to pay for a license.

   This is true even if you run a commercial Web server that uses MySQL,
   because you are not selling an embedded MySQL version yourself. However,
   in this case we would like you to purchase MySQL support, because MySQL is
   helping your enterprise.
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