rlm_sqlippool IPR

[Paul TBBle Hampson]

On Thu, Sep 15, 2005 at 03:12:42PM -0400, Alan DeKok wrote:
> Frank Cusack <fcusack at fcusack.com> wrote:
>> You really must have explicit license terms in order to include sql_ippool
>> (or any contrib software).

>   For one-line patches?

I think the difference is that a one-line patch creates a derivative work,
which the GPL requires be licensed under a GPL-compatible license.  And
possibly it is too trivial to carry its own copyright. (Someone mentioned
recently that the US copyright rules don't recognise trivial programs...)

A whole FreeRADIUS module could be argued that it is not a derivative work, but
a distinct work intereacting with FreeRADIUS via a defined interface, and
therefore subject to copyright on its own. The GPL may still affect
distribution of this module (I believe it has something to say on this matter,
but can't be bothered quoting chapter and verse) but it doesn't really affect
copyright. And while copyright is held by someone else, the licensing must be
explicit. (And to be distributed with FreeRADIUS, it must be GPL-compatible I
believe.)

And then this introduces another module that must be considered in granting an
OpenSSL exception to the GPL, as Globe.net may not wish to grant such an
exception, and I again can't be bothered to look up to see if we can derive a
work from GPL code and license it under GPL + OpenSSL exception without the
copyright holder relicensing it.

I think this is why projects such as Asterisk (I believe?) requires
contributions be assigned copyright to the project, so they don't need to check
with everyone who's ever touched the codebase if they need to relicense it.
They also use this for dual-licensing the code to commercial users who do not
want to deal with the GPL.

(I'm not saying Asterisk does it better, or worse. Just mentioning what they do
to deal with this problem.)

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------
Paul "TBBle" Hampson, MCSE
8th year CompSci/Asian Studies student, ANU
The Boss, Bubblesworth Pty Ltd (ABN: 51 095 284 361)
Paul.Hampson at Pobox.Com

Of course Pacman didn't influence us as kids. If it did,
we'd be running around in darkened rooms, popping pills and
listening to repetitive music.
 -- Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.1/au/
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