[Zope-dev] ZPL and GPL licensing issues

Federico Di Gregorio fog@mixadlive.com
21 Jun 2001 10:57:48 +0200


i'll try to answer as clearly as possible but remeber that what follows
are *my* oppinions, not mixad live's nor debian's.

On 21 Jun 2001 10:52:28 +0200, Erik Enge wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Jun 2001, Gregor Hoffleit wrote:
[snip]
> If I have the proprietory program P (that is the clients business-process
> workflow application *phew*) as a Zope Python Product and then we have
> Morten's GUM under the GPL, which also is a Zope Python Product, can P
> application utilise GUM without having to be relicensed as GPL?  (And I
> realise that the word "utilise" is ambigous, that was intentional.)

if your product derives from GUM or uses internal interfaces, no, you
can't. if your product uses only well the defined external api or access
gum through zope, then, imho, yes.

> Another question which I feel is very related, and to which I cannot get
> any real clarification:  Can Zope run GPL Zope Python Products without
> being relicensed as GPL?

good question. imho, licensing a zope product under gpl is a non-sense
because you won't be able to use it (usually products inherit on zope
classes) and respect the gpl at the same time. that's why i always
release under a double license. i really hope dc will release zope under
a gpl compatible license soon or later.

> "use [...] in your work", what does that mean?  Subclassing?  Interaction
> between the products in a management-interface?

i personally consider subclassing as linking.

> Hm.  What about a ZPL Zope Python Product and a GPL Zope Python
> Product?  Isn't the problem exactly the same?

yes. terrible, terrible problem. but, please don't see that as a
"license war". different people like different licenses for different
reasons and that's Right (TM). this "war" is just all of us trying to
cooperate to put free software to a better use.

federico 

-- 
Federico Di Gregorio
MIXAD LIVE Chief of Research & Technology              fog@mixadlive.com
Debian GNU/Linux Developer & Italian Press Contact        fog@debian.org
                      The number of the beast: vi vi vi. -- Delexa Jones