gnome db vs. mozilla db

[Sebastian Wilhelmi <wilhelmi ira uka de>]

hi,

I've recently startet compiling gnome-mozilla and there is (or better
could be) a problem with the db-variants, that gnome and mozilla are
using. 

Now mozilla uses a hacked db 1.85, which originally contains some bugs, as
statet by folks form mozilla. they will however switch to db 2.0 real
soon. that would of course be code duplication and certainly there will
also be linking problems at least on some platforms (I could solve them by
changing the linking order). The db 2.0 will be uses unhacked, i.e. as
distributed (as far as I understood)

So now my proposal:
Why not switching to db 2.0 for gnome as well?

Yes, I know the license could impose some problems regarding the LGPL of
gnome-libs. But we could write them to make an exception for inclusion in
gnome.

or am i mistaken and the problem is such, that you do not plan to include
it into gnome-libs at all and you are afraid that i.e. debian will not
distribute db 2.0 because it isn't  compatible to the free software
definition of debian?

But on the other hand everybody is allowed to install db 2.0 on his/her
system and of course to then install gnome-libs as well. I can't see the
problem there.

The offending term obviously is:

 *    Redistributions in any form must be accompanied by information on
 *    how to obtain complete source code for the DB software and any
 *    accompanying software that uses the DB software.  The source code
 *    must either be included in the distribution or be available for no
 *    more than the cost of distribution plus a nominal fee, and must be
 *    freely redistributable under reasonable conditions.  For an
 *    executable file, complete source code means the source code for all
 *    modules it contains.  It does not mean source code for modules or
 *    files that typically accompany the operating system on which the
 *    executable file runs, e.g., standard library modules or system
 *    header files.

But if you are not redistributing db 2.0 at all and only using it, there
should not be a problem at all???????

But I'm not a lawyer, nor is english my native tongue, so i really can't
tell. I just wanted to raise the issue.

Bye
Sebastian

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