Re: [geowebcache-users] Need information regarding GeoWebCache licensing

[Amos H. <ah...@gc...>]

Hi Arne.

I used to have a soft spot for the "force things to open up" creativity behind the GPL license. Unfortunately, it is actually quite restrictive to projects that attempt to be *more* open than GPL. Our code is all released under a BSD license and we have had to seek alternatives to using GPL code when it is to be closely integrated. Now that there is so much open source, so many tools to help communities form, and great enthusiasm for contributing, the GPL "give back under my exact terms" rule is actually causing more problems than it solves. "Truly open" licenses are becoming more common. In my opinion, if you want contributions back, it's more effective to provide good collaboration tools, review contributions quickly, and with any luck, outpace the development of anyone's closed fork.

I'm actually surprised that GWC is going GPL. Is there an issue you are trying to address with the switch?

--
Amos Hayes
Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
Carleton University

On 2010-01-06, at 12:39 PM, Arne Kepp wrote:

> Where did you read that GeoServer 2.0 is LGPL?
> 
> It's GPL (version 2.0, to be specific) and there has not been any 
> discussion of LGPLing it, so you will face exactly the same "problems" 
> with GWC as you currently do with GS. GWC's license is effectively 
> LGPLv3 at this point, but will be relicensed to GPL sooner or later.
> 
> I started soliciting feedback from the community, got no objections, but 
> the got stuck because of the GeoServer integration and v3 vs v2 issues. 
> Maybe we'll just drop back to GPLv2. Either way, I updated the webpage 
> early to give developers like you a fair warning.
> 
> If by "standard interfaces" you mean HTTP calls, such as WMS, then I 
> believe you can distribute these as you like. Just present the GPLv2 
> license as part of the installation routine (the disclaimer is 
> important) and point to where the user can get the source code.
> 
> -Arne
> 
> 
> ajayr wrote:
>> Hi
>> 
>> I have been using the older version of Geowebcache (when the licensing was
>> LGPL) in a closed source product. I am interested in upgrading to the latest
>> version of geowebcache. But I noticed that the liceinsing has now become
>> GPL.
>> 
>> My question is this:
>> 
>> 1. does using geowebcache in the server mode prevent me from distributing
>> the product? 
>> ( I know geoserver has GPL licensing but I can distribute it as long as i do
>> not make any modifications to geoserver in terms of adding plugins, etc.
>> i.e. as long as i work behind the standard geoserver interfaces. )
>> 
>> 2. I think that geoserver 2.0 and above is now LGPL, so if i use geowebcache
>> with geoserver does that mess with geowebcache licensing when i distribute
>> the product?
>> 
>> Appreciate any info in this regard
>> 
>> Thanks
>> 
>> Ajay
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Arne Kepp
> OpenGeo - http://opengeo.org
> Expert service straight from the developers
> 
> 
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