[Opensim-dev] GPL / BSD licensing dangers

[Dirk Krause]

This is probably worth an entry on the OpenSimulator Wiki, because that's what people keep asking (including me).  Or is there already and I didn't notice?

-- Dirk

Von: opensim-dev-bounces at lists.berlios.de [mailto:opensim-dev-bounces at lists.berlios.de] Im Auftrag von Diva Canto
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 30. Juni 2010 15:03
An: opensim-dev at lists.berlios.de
Betreff: Re: [Opensim-dev] GPL / BSD licensing dangers

The issue here is not BSD+GPL licenses in general, although that's also an issue to worry about; the issue we most vocally warn people about is very specific to OpenSim and Second Life. OpenSim has been made legally possible due to the generosity of Linden Lab's publishing their protocols by means of some public documentation and, yes, open sourcing the client [under GPL]. So far, we have had the passive and, at points, active support of Linden Lab in developing OpenSim. But, as we all know, Linden Lab is a relatively unpredictable company; at any point, it could be acquired by another company who is less enthusiastic about a free BSD open source server side to their client. In the absolute worst case scenario, that other company could cause us a lot of grief if OpenSim includes code directly derived from GPL'ed viewer code. (I don't want to start a rhetorical discussion about this; that's just the worst case scenario, period.)

Hence, the "no risks" rule. We do not take patches from anyone who is actively involved in the development of viewers from the LL viewer family.

If, however, you are talking about your own modules that aren't part of the official OpenSim distribution, then OpenSim has no say about it -- do whatever you want. No one here is in a position to give legal advice.

On 6/30/2010 4:18 AM, Neil Canham wrote: 
Would anyone be able to tell me about the warning for any one person not to work on both the OpenSim source and a viewer such as Hippo?  I understand that there are licensing differences (BSD vs GPL respectively) and that direct inclusion of GPL code in a BSD project breaks the GPL license.  Surely you could guard against such direct inclusion?  Does this extend to region modules and mini-region modules?  I'm in the position of wanting to make changes to the viewer and also to write MRMs or other modules.

-- 
Neil Canham
-- 




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