Re: [Evolution] LDAP support

[Matthew Vanecek <linux4us home com>]

On 10 Apr 2001 12:18:05 +0930, Not Zed wrote:

> For now, you will HAVE to compile it yourself, we cannot distribute such

> binaries as it voilates the license we have chosen to use for Evolution

> - the GPL.

>

Simply because the  Oh-So-Powerful-And-Wonderful FSF says that a license is incompatible with the GPL does not necessarily make it so.  I read the OpenLDAP license, such as it is, and I fail to see the conflict.  You're not saying "Use Evolution because it supports OpenLDAP!" (although I have trouble seeing how one could POSSIBLY consider Evolution a derivative work from OpenLDAP!), and you don't call your product "OpenLDAP Evolution" or "Evolution-OpenLDAP" or anything like that.

The only possible obstacle I could detect (using a VERY large leap and twisting as hard as I could, to make it an obstacle), is in section 6 of the OpenLDAP license--you must give OpenLDAP due credit.  Well, duh! ("We used OpenLDAP at http://www.openldap.org" -- problem solved!).

Distributing binary distributions of Evolution linked to OpenLDAP is not a problem because:

1. Evolution is not a derivative work of OpenLDAP
2. Even if Evolution *were* a derivative work, it does not use the name "OpenLDAP" for promotional purposes
3. Even if Evolution *were* a derivative work, it does not use "OpenLDAP" anywhere in its name
4. There are no restrictions in the OpenLDAP license on distributing code which is linked to the OpenLDAP libraries, nor are the re-distribution restrictions of OpenLDAP incompatible with GPL (redistribution must contain a copy of the copyright notice--sounds vaguely GPL-ish to me...)

I've read the GPL as distributed by Evoluiton (v2, 1991), and the OpenLDAP license (http://www.openldap.org/software/release/license.html), both several times, and I fail to see the conflict.

I caution you to pay less attention to RMS and more attention to reality.  The two are not always in sync with each other...
-- 

Matthew Vanecek

perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5,(41*2),sqrt(7056),(unpack(c,H)-2),oct(115),10);'

********************************************************************************

For 93 million miles, there is nothing between the sun and my shadow except me.

I'm always getting in the way of something...