[Ikvm-developers] OpenJDK licensing (boring!)

[Michael K. <mi...@sa...>]

Jeroen, I know you probably find licensing as boring and frustrating as I
do, but it's something that has to be done, unfortunately. Some Saxon users
get very iffy about getting this right - lawyers have to earn their inflated
salaries, after all.

The ikvm.net home page, and the page about licensing, doesn't seem to have
been updated to reflect the move from GNU Classpath to OpenJDK.

It would be good to have a reference that says exactly what OpenJDK version
you are distributing and what modifications you made, and a pointer to the
license that you are relying on. I assume it is this:

http://openjdk.java.net/legal/gplv2+ce.html

but it would be nice to have confirmation. 

One of the rules of this license is that when you redistribute GPL code, you
must include or reference a copy of the license, and it's not clear to me
currently how you are meeting that condition. Another rule is that each file
you modify should include details of the modification. That obviously
doesn't work when you jave modified binary files wholesale by converting
them to CIL, but a top-level statement of how the code has been modified
would be a good substitute.

Also, in the downloaded code I see there is a directory called icedtea.
Where does this fit into the picture? Does this have any separate license
implications?

I think it would be also useful if you assert clearly that you consider
parts of IKVM other than the Classpath library to be "identifiable sections
of that work are not derived from the [GPL] Program, [that] can be
reasonably
considered independent and separate works in themselves" and therefore not
infected by the GPL license.

Michael Kay
Saxonica