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I don't know where in my message you read that. The "no risks" rule
couldn't be clearer.<br>
<br>
The issue is one of being exposed to the concrete algorithms of the
viewer and then writing server-side code specifically for them. It's
not so much intellectual property -- as far as I know, nothing in the
viewer is patented. But even if something is patented, that would not
be all we need to worry about. The issue is learning from the viewer
code. Learning from code is a grey area of open source licensing. In
radical interpretations, learning from the code and then writing code
for what you've learned makes that new code a "derived work". <br>
<br>
So in that worst case scenario, the grief would be that OpenSim would
be forced to change into a GPL license. We don't want that.<br>
<br>
On 6/30/2010 6:25 AM, Dickson, Mike (ISS Software) wrote:
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Ok,
this is a slightly different position than I've heard
before...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">The
issue of simple code inclusion is well defined IMO, OpenSIM
core can't include GPL'd code into the BSD licensed core without
running afoul
of the GPL. That's a simple license compatibility issue. But in the
past what I've heard is that you don't want contributions from people
who have
read or worked on viewer code because of concerns of copying IP (that
is...
knowing something about the client implementation might taint the
server code
because I'd use that info when implementing a server change).
Is that not the case? Diva, your message as worded sounds to me like
you
would accept contributions so long as there were no GPL licensed code
in the
submission. I.E. Your issue is no direct code copying, not intellectual
property related.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Modules
external to core of course don't carry any
prohibition. In doing that I'm simply using API's the project has
provided and how I conform to licenses involved is my business.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Mike<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a moz-do-not-send="true" name="_MailEndCompose"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"><o:p> </o:p></span></a></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: windowtext;">From:</span></b><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: windowtext;">
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:opensim-dev-bounces@lists.berlios.de">opensim-dev-bounces@lists.berlios.de</a>
[<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:opensim-dev-bounces@lists.berlios.de">mailto:opensim-dev-bounces@lists.berlios.de</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Diva
Canto<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, June 30, 2010 8:03 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de">opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Opensim-dev] GPL / BSD licensing dangers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">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.)<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
On 6/30/2010 4:18 AM, Neil Canham wrote: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">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.<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
Neil Canham<br>
-- <br>
<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<pre style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre style="margin-left: 0.5in;">_______________________________________________<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre style="margin-left: 0.5in;">Opensim-dev mailing list<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de">Opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de</a><o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev">https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev</a><o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre style="margin-left: 0.5in;"> <o:p></o:p></pre>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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