[jsword-devel] Re: JSword license

[Joe Walker]

Hi,

>> Most of the approved open source licenses (but not all -- see the 
>> original bsd for example) can be redistributed under GPL by 
>> narrowing/restricting the terms of the original license.  So they are 
>> not "free", but they can be "made free."  :-)
>
> But not Apache and IBM P.L. (JUnit/BSF) which covers most of the libs 
> we use.
> See: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html
>
> I would say that a legal module ought to be compulsory in all uni 
> comp. sci courses! I would have found it faaaar more useful than my AI 
> or HCI or Modular2 modules.
>
> If you want to submit your sources that's fine. There is a 
> jsword-support cvs module that would be a good home for it.
> Thanks, I'm off to gnu-legal.


Well I was, but I never got there.

Can I recommend
    http://www.gnu.org/cgi-bin/license-quiz.cgi
as a good way to understand some of the more complex issues of the GPL.

I've written to gnu-legal to clarify things but in the mean time I think 
the long and short is that we do need an exemption clause, or at least 
that is my reading.
Comments, thoughts?

Joe.