Re: license question

[Bryce McKinlay]

Ben Hinkle wrote:

> I'd like to port the Collections implementation in Classpath to another
> language called D that is very similar to Java and I'm trying to figure
> out the Classpath license. My question is simple: what license would
> such a port fall under?
>
> It looks like Classpath uses the GPL (not LGPL) with the "special
> exception" which states that if one links statically *or dynamically* to
> the classpath library that the sum is governed by the GPL. But then
> there is the statement that "independent modules" aren't governed by the
> GPL. So I interpret that to mean "independent modules" are ones that
> aren't linked statically or dynamically with Classpath.
No. "An independent module is a module which is not derived from or 
based on this library."

For example, if you took Classpath collections code and made 
modifications to it, the modified code is subject to the terms of the 
GPL+exception, and is not an independent module. If you have some 
application code that USES classpath via the public java.* APIs, this IS 
an independent module. If you link it with classpath, it is not subject 
to the terms of the GPL+exception.

You can think of the classpath license as being similar to the LGPL, but 
with less restrictions on the manner in which code that uses the library 
may be linked.

> I'm not even
> sure what those are. I'm guessing that using the classpath jar and class
> files are not considered dynamic linking?
IMO, class files == dynamic linking.

Regards

Bryce