Comments on: Java and the GPL License http://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2006/11/23/java-and-the-gpl-license/ Ace King, Check it Out! Thu, 27 May 2010 16:03:45 +0100 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Technology in plain English » Open Java changes everything http://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2006/11/23/java-and-the-gpl-license/comment-page-1/#comment-7807 Technology in plain English » Open Java changes everything Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:49:46 +0000 http://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2006/11/23/java-and-the-gpl-license/#comment-7807 [...] Update: I’m not saying that .Net is going to go away (nor should it), just that both it and Java are going to be around for a long time to come. Joe and John also have more commentary. [...] [...] Update: I’m not saying that .Net is going to go away (nor should it), just that both it and Java are going to be around for a long time to come. Joe and John also have more commentary. [...]

]]> By: Joe http://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2006/11/23/java-and-the-gpl-license/comment-page-1/#comment-7754 Joe Thu, 23 Nov 2006 19:06:00 +0000 http://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2006/11/23/java-and-the-gpl-license/#comment-7754 Hey, I didn't know about that. Thats pretty cool. Unfortunately it doesn't fix the problem for Microsoft who would need to link Java into .NET in all kinds of exotic ways that exceed the assigned rights of the classpath exception. If they could escape the constraints of the GPL this way then Sun would have played right into Microsoft's hands, I don't think that is the case. What does happen to the patents for things like hotspot? Thats a good (unanswered question). Hey, I didn’t know about that. Thats pretty cool. Unfortunately it doesn’t fix the problem for Microsoft who would need to link Java into .NET in all kinds of exotic ways that exceed the assigned rights of the classpath exception. If they could escape the constraints of the GPL this way then Sun would have played right into Microsoft’s hands, I don’t think that is the case.

What does happen to the patents for things like hotspot? Thats a good (unanswered question).

]]> By: Aehso http://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2006/11/23/java-and-the-gpl-license/comment-page-1/#comment-7753 Aehso Thu, 23 Nov 2006 18:17:25 +0000 http://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2006/11/23/java-and-the-gpl-license/#comment-7753 Joe, Not to defend MS or anything but did you miss the fact that Sun explicitly added the "classpath exception" to their GPL license to address the usual GPL linking restriction? See http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/java/faq.jsp#g5 MS are perfectly entitled to fork the OpenJDK codebase. They just cannot subsequently call the fork "Java" as that trademark is owned and licensed by Sun. MS would of course have to release the source for any fork as required by GPL but even that isn't as bad as it sounds. Enter the Classpath exception. MS are allowed to "extend" the code in the OpenJDK in whatever direction they want as they are just linking new types via the classpath. Extension via modification to the OpenJDK types would require source publication, but again, they would only have to publish the source for the modified types, not that of their entire derived frameworks. The classpath exception is there for exactly that reason. The Sun VM implementation source, on the other hand, is fully GPL though they'd have a hard time proving any of that C code ends up borrowed elsewhere. Sun would be far more likely to go chasing MS for violation of VM patents (which incidentally Sun apparently have a war chest of thanks to their head start working on dynamic code recompilation engines like HotSpot) You're right though, this was a master stroke by Sun and they did it at the right time. It undermines IBM Joe,
Not to defend MS or anything but did you miss the fact that Sun explicitly added the “classpath exception” to their GPL license to address the usual GPL linking restriction? See http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/java/faq.jsp#g5

MS are perfectly entitled to fork the OpenJDK codebase. They just cannot subsequently call the fork “Java” as that trademark is owned and licensed by Sun. MS would of course have to release the source for any fork as required by GPL but even that isn’t as bad as it sounds.

Enter the Classpath exception. MS are allowed to “extend” the code in the OpenJDK in whatever direction they want as they are just linking new types via the classpath.

Extension via modification to the OpenJDK types would require source publication, but again, they would only have to publish the source for the modified types, not that of their entire derived frameworks. The classpath exception is there for exactly that reason.

The Sun VM implementation source, on the other hand, is fully GPL though they’d have a hard time proving any of that C code ends up borrowed elsewhere. Sun would be far more likely to go chasing MS for violation of VM patents (which incidentally Sun apparently have a war chest of thanks to their head start working on dynamic code recompilation engines like HotSpot)

You’re right though, this was a master stroke by Sun and they did it at the right time. It undermines IBM

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