[Swig-user] Request to make SWIG more adoptable - please help

[Raghavan K. (rkripa) <rk...@ci...>]

Hi,

I am very interested to utilize your SWIG tool to generate some Java APIs and leverage an existing c/c++ software.

We noticed that the SWIG tool does not include an exception for output generated by the tool that is common for GPL compiler/software tools.  (See e.g. http://spdx.org/licenses/ and the examples below). The SWIG web site and wikis include many statements to the effect that "SWIG also generates code and the intention of the SWIG license is also to enable distribution of the generated code under license terms of the user's choice/requirements."

This is helpful, but does not explicitly grant a license.  We are interested in leveraging SWIG in the development of a commercial product to generate JNI API wrappers.  If the SWIG team could add an affirmative statement (see below) to the SWIG license, and also include on your Web site, we would be able to leverage your excellent tool.  We believe this is your intention for use of SWIG in this manner, but need your assistance to be able to do so.

Affirmative statement:
"The SWIG Developers give unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify any wrappers or other code from the SWIG tool that are included in the output of the SWIG tool.  You need not follow the terms of the GNU General Public License when using or distributing such wrappers or other code, even though portions of the text of the SWIG tool may appear in them.  The GNU General Public License (GPL) does govern all other use of the material that constitutes the SWIG tool."

Please let us know if you can agree to this.  You can contact the undersigned at  408.902.3731

Thanks,

Regards,
Raghavan
408.902.3731




Examples:

GCC Exception for GPLv2:

In addition to the permissions in the GNU General Public License, the Free Software Foundation gives you unlimited permission to link the compiled version of this file into combinations with other programs, and to distribute those combinations without any restriction coming from the use of this file. (The General Public License restrictions do apply in other respects; for example, they cover modification of the file, and distribution when not linked into a combine executable.)



Bison Exception for GPLv2:

As a special exception, you may create a larger work that contains part or all of the Bison parser skeleton and distribute that work under terms of your choice, so long as that work isn't itself a parser generator using the skeleton or a modified version thereof as a parser skeleton. Alternatively, if you modify or redistribute the parser skeleton itself, you may (at your option) remove this special exception, which will cause the skeleton and the resulting Bison output files to be licensed under the GNU General Public License without this special exception



Autoconf Exception for GPLv2:

As a special exception, the Free Software Foundation gives unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify the configure scripts that are the output of Autoconf. You need not follow the terms of the GNU General Public License when using or distributing such scripts, even though portions of the text of Autoconf appear in them. The GNU General Public License (GPL) does govern all other use of the material that constitutes the Autoconf program.

Certain portions of the Autoconf source text are designed to be copied (in certain cases, depending on the input) into the output of Autoconf. We call these the "data" portions. The rest of the Autoconf source text consists of comments plus executable code that decides which of the data portions to output in any given case. We call these comments and executable code the "non-data" portions. Autoconf never copies any of the non-data portions into its output.

This special exception to the GPL applies to versions of Autoconf released by the Free Software Foundation. When you make and distribute a modified version of Autoconf, you may extend this special exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well, *unless* your modified version has the potential to copy into its output some of the text that was the non-data portion of the version that you started with. (In other words, unless your change moves or copies text from the non-data portions to the data portions.) If your modification has such potential, you must delete any notice of this special exception to the GPL from your modified version.