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Date:      Sat, 06 May 2006 20:41:47 +0300
From:      Panagiotis Astithas <past@ebs.gr>
To:        kurt@intricatesoftware.com
Cc:        freebsd-java@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: jdk15 from update5 sources
Message-ID:  <445CDFDB.5020901@ebs.gr>
In-Reply-To: <200605051149.19715.lists@intricatesoftware.com>
References:  <Pine.LNX.4.62.0605041437150.29744@decibel.pvv.ntnu.no>	<20060504162514.GB1336@misty.eyesbeyond.com> <445B19DF.2090308@ebs.gr> <200605051149.19715.lists@intricatesoftware.com>

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Kurt Miller wrote:
> On Friday 05 May 2006 5:24 am, Panagiotis Astithas wrote:
>> Greg Lewis wrote:
>>> One general question, since I haven't had time to compare them, why the
>>> JIUL rather than the JRL?  Do others have comments on the differences
>>> between the two?
>> IANAL of course, but the two licenses mainly seem to differ in the 
>> intended use of the software. JRL-licensed software cannot be used for 
>> commercial purposes, while JIUL-licensed software does not have such a 
>> restriction. So, for example, if you are planning on using the software 
>> on amd64 servers for web hosting, you can do it with JIUL only. Both 
>> permit sharing the modified source code to other licensees of the 
>> respective license and both claim that you are not tainted after 
>> studying their source code.
> 
> IANAL also. I agree with your assessment. Initially I
> was very excited about the JIUL license, but not so much
> after reading the FAQ on it. FAQ numbers 16 and 17 are
> not good. All the changes to get the 1.5 jdk running on
> BSD are licenced under the SCSL and FAQ 16 says:
> 
> "You should not intermingle code that was obtained,
> modified or created under the SCSL with code that is
> subject to the JIUL."
> 
> That pretty much stops us from migrating the port
> to the JIUL license. :(

I found those FAQ items scary, too. There is a similar, albeit a bit 
better FAQ item on JRL (#16):

----------
19. May I co-mingle JRL source and source code covered under another 
license or agreement?

This is tricky and highly dependent upon license terms. Sun grants you 
the right to distribute JRL source, binaries and their modifications 
under the JRL or under a Sun approved commercial license. To co-mingle 
source or binaries covered under another license or agreement (including 
in some cases a company's employee agreement), you must have the right 
to release that code under the JRL as well.
----------

This sounds rather bad, but I suppose it could be considered as 
applicable in licenses other than SCSL, that is explicitly mentioned in 
FAQ #16:

----------
16. I am a current SCSL licensee, and want to use the JRL for research. 
Can I do this?

Yes. Current SCSL licensees can choose to use the JRL for research 
purposes, but they must click through the new license, and use the JRL 
notification in their work.
----------

The most important thing however is that if this is a correct 
interpretation of the situation, then the posted patches cannot be used, 
since AFAICT they were created against JIUL-licensed sources.

There is also an email address in the same page for licensing-related 
questions that could help to clarify these issues.

Cheers,

Panagiotis



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