Re: [ jEdit-devel ] License Question

[<Kli...@t-...>]

Alan Williamson wrote:

> Incidentally; the API to the commerical server is/will be publicly 
> accessible.  No big secrets to be kept there; its a TCP/IP message 
> protocol.

In this case it should not be a problem then. You can release it under 
the GPL as this fits with the GNU's GPL-and-Plugins FAQ.

If the API to the commercial server would not be publicly available, you 
could not release the plugin publicly either (or you'd get in problems 
with the commercial server people). But by sharing data structures of 
jEdit, which most plugins definitely do, you are using the GPL-code of 
jEdit in your plugin. And this means that you will have to release the 
plugin under the GPL as well - according to the GPL. I don't like this 
idea very much, but that is clearly the way it is. Slava's statement 
that you could use any license for a jEdit plugin doesn't help here.

This is why some people (mostly from Redmond) call the GPL a "virus": it 
infects everything it gets in connection with ;-) GPL in terms of open 
source is good for the developer, not for the user of the code.

The LGPL and the BSD for example do not force the same license for code 
that uses other code licensed under them while they still are good for 
open source. The Apache license is even more flexible, as I think.

Alex

-- 
Alexander Klimetschek

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