Re: MySQL Connector/J license change, was: > Re: [Jython-dev] Let's make an interim release

[Ben B. <ba...@de...>]

>  From discussions on the Debian list, there's apparently a 
> GPL-incompatibility in the Jython license, and some Debian was concerned 
> about the inclusion of the Readline stuff (because it links to the GPL'd 
> gnu readline library).

The problem derives from the cpython 2.0 license used with jython.  From
cpython's own license file:

  All Python releases are Open Source (see http://www.opensource.org for
  the Open Source Definition).  Historically, most, but not all, Python
  releases have also been GPL-compatible; the table below summarizes
  the various releases.

      Release         Derived     Year        Owner       GPL-
                      from                                compatible? (1)

      0.9.0 thru 1.2              1991-1995   CWI         yes
      1.3 thru 1.5.2  1.2         1995-1999   CNRI        yes
      1.6             1.5.2       2000        CNRI        no
      2.0             1.6         2000        BeOpen.com  no
      1.6.1           1.6         2001        CNRI        yes (2)
      2.1             2.0+1.6.1   2001        PSF         no
      2.0.1           2.0+1.6.1   2001        PSF         yes
      2.1.1           2.1+2.0.1   2001        PSF         yes
      2.2             2.1.1       2001        PSF         yes
      2.1.2           2.1.1       2002        PSF         yes
      2.1.3           2.1.2       2002        PSF         yes
      2.2.1           2.2         2002        PSF         yes
      2.2.2           2.2.1       2002        PSF         yes
      2.3             2.2.2       2002-2003   PSF         yes

  Footnotes:

  (1) GPL-compatible doesn't mean that we're distributing Python under
      the GPL.  All Python licenses, unlike the GPL, let you distribute
      a modified version without making your changes open source.  The
      GPL-compatible licenses make it possible to combine Python with
      other software that is released under the GPL; the others don't.

  (2) According to Richard Stallman, 1.6.1 is not GPL-compatible,
      because its license has a choice of law clause.  According to
      CNRI, however, Stallman's lawyer has told CNRI's lawyer that 1.6.1
      is "not incompatible" with the GPL.

Debian's solution to the readline problem was to not link against
libreadline but instead libedit which is BSD licensed.  Bernhard Bablok
was happy to take patches to his readline wrappers to ensure this was
possible.

Ben (debian jython maintainer).