GPL v3

[Scott Silva]

on 9/27/2007 7:46 AM Scott B. Anderson spake the following:
> The text of GPL v3 is here: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
> The FAQ for GPL in general is here: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html
> 
> 
>         From the FAQ:
>         "What does it mean to say that two licenses are "compatible"?
> 
>                 In order to combine two programs (or substantial parts of them) into a larger work, you need to have permission to use  both programs in this way. If the two programs' licenses permit this, they are compatible. If there is no way to satisfy both   licenses at once, they are incompatible.
> 
>                 For some licenses, the way in which the combination is made may affect whether they are compatible--for instance, they  may allow linking two modules together, but not allow merging their code into one module.
> 
>                 Just to install two separate programs in the same system, it is not necessary that their licenses be compatible,        because this does not combine them into a larger work."
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure  A) how the FSF/GNU would view MailScanner with the plugins, and SpamAssassin, and ClamAV, after all they are more or less separate installations via cpan or your rpm (the use of which might cause more headaches) installs.
> 
> Is anyone here enough of a legal expert to determine what the effect on MailScanner might be if SpamAssassin or ClamAV went to GPL v3 ? I just checked clamav 0.91.1 and it uses GPL v2.  SpamAssassin uses the Apache license v2.0.
> 
> Scott Anderson
But spamassassin and clamav are not compiled into MailScanner, they are 
separate programs compiled independently. Just because they interact has no 
bearing on the license of MailScanner. Otherwise, if GCC was set to GPL3, then 
every program you compiled on a system would also be GPL3 if the interaction 
went that way.

What Julian would have to look at would be any contributed code that was added 
under an incompatible license. Lets say if I had written one of the modules 
and given it to Julian, but specified a BSD license, Julian would have to 
re-design that module, or I would have to change the licensing.
Julian, you might need to make some sort of statement that all contributed 
code needs to be GPL and enforce it. I know that you usually re-code most 
contributions into you coding style, so you are probably fairly safe.

Julian, you might need to check with Fortress to see if GPL3 interferes with 
your commercial ventures with them.

-- 
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!