Re: [Java-gnome-developer] License Question and GCJ

[Andrew C. <an...@op...>]

On Fri, 2008-11-14 at 17:55 +0100, Claes Lilliesköld wrote:
> I thinking about using java-gnome ... for a commercial application.

java-gnome is licenced under the GPL + Classpath Exception. This means
that you can link to it freely, but you can only do so without
triggering the GPL if you don't change anything in java-gnome or
otherwise derive or copy something from it.

If you do change anything in the library as released (and that includes
adding new coverage, changing internal data, changing public API, fixing
bugs, taking text or documentation, anything) then your application
using it would have to be GPLv2.

If you want to avoid this, then you could instead choose to submit your
changes upstream. When such contributions are accepted, merged into the
upstream 'mainline', and finally published, then at that point they form
part of the library as released and you can again use it via the linking
exception.

> java-gnome will create JNI...

JNI hasn't anything to do with it, really.

In Java land, loading classes and invoking methods from a Java (a .class
or a .jar of them) *is* "linking".

AfC
Sydney

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