LGPL and Java, and Python?

[Alexandre Fayolle]

Hello,

Reading Debian Weekly News, I learnt that there seem to be a problem
when importing an LGPL'd java library (this forces the importer to be
LGPL'd too), making the LGPL license equivalent to the GPL for Java
programs.

Here are a few references taken from DWN:

http://slashdot.org/developers/03/07/17/2257224.shtml

http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.jakarta.poi.devel/5900

http://linuxintegrators.com/hl30/blog/general/?permalink=LGPL+clarification.html

http://www.rollerweblogger.org/page/roller/20030716#for_java_lgpl_is_viral

http://www.intertwingly.net/blog/1519.html

http://radio.weblogs.com/0122027/2003/07/16.html#a56

I'm by no way a license expert, but it seems to me that the import
mechanism in python is closer to Java's than what is allowed to use a
python LGPL'd library in a non GPL/LGPL program.

Could anyone confirm or infirm this impression?

--
Alexandre Fayolle
LOGILAB, Paris (France).
http://www.logilab.com http://www.logilab.fr http://www.logilab.org
Développement logiciel avancé - Intelligence Artificielle - Formations

[Martin v. Löwis]

Re: LGPL and Java, and Python?

Alexandre Fayolle <alf@fayauffre. org> writes:
[color=blue]
> Could anyone confirm or infirm this impression?[/color]

To answer that question, one would need to know on what grounds the
FSF lawyer has decided that section 6b) of the LGPL is inapplicable to
Java.

Regards,
Martin

[Robert Kern]

Re: LGPL and Java, and Python?

In article <slrnbi275k.2ce .alf@largo.faya uffre.org>,
Alexandre Fayolle <alf@fayauffre. org> writes:[color=blue]
> Hello,
>
> Reading Debian Weekly News, I learnt that there seem to be a problem
> when importing an LGPL'd java library (this forces the importer to be
> LGPL'd too), making the LGPL license equivalent to the GPL for Java
> programs.[/color]

Apparently, this whole mess was a misunderstandin g. The LGPL works as expected
with Java.

http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2003/debian-legal-200307/msg00234.html

--
Robert Kern
kern@caltech.ed u

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
-- Richard Harter