RE: [Access-activists] New member with a big project

[Jamal Mazrui]

Thanks for the response.  I am confused then by the below excerpt from
the FAQ at the Eclipse web site.  

What does it mean for a license to be "incompatible" with the GPL?  The
Eclipse Public License is an open source license, but presumably, it is
still problematic if GNU has officially deemed it to be incompatible.
Do incompatible licenses bring any additional restrictions as compared
to compatible licenses?  Is the resolution that BrailleBlaster has an
Apache 2 license that is GPL compatible?  

How can a developer know that a project retains GPL compatibility?  I
thought it was by checking the discussion of specific licenses at
> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html

I thought that list is based on an application of the relevant freedom
principles.  If not, it would seem to be more of a subjective matter if
each developer has to decide whether the principles are satisfied in a
particular situation.

Jamal

>From the web page
http://www.eclipse.org/legal/eplfaq.php

Are the Eclipse Public License (EPL) and the General Public License
(GPL) compatible?
The EPL and the GPL are not compatible in any combination where the
result would be considered either: (a) a  derivative work  (which
Eclipse interprets
consistent with the definition of that term in the U.S. Copyright Act )
or (b) a work  based on  the GPL code, as that phrase is used in the 
GPLv2,
GPLv3
 or the 
GPL FAQ
 as applicable. Further, you may not combine EPL and GPL code in any
scenario where source code under those licenses are both the same source
code module.

Based upon the 
position
 of the Free Software Foundation, you may not combine EPL and GPL code
in any scenario where linking exists between code made available under
those licenses.
The above applies to both GPL version 2 and GPL version 3. 
 


-----Original Message-----
From: address@hidden
[mailto:address@hidden On Behalf
Of Christian Hofstader
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 6:51 PM
To: address@hidden
Subject: Re: [Access-activists] New member with a big project

We do not require compatibility with GPL as long as the license used by
a program protects the four freedoms as described on www.fsf.org. The
Eclipse license is a full free software license but, as is the case with
APache and some other major free software licenses, they are not
compatible with GPL for one reason or another. Once a project gets out
into the wild with a free software license, it is very difficult to
change the terms and licenses as it would be impossible to get all
potential contributors to sign off on the change. If you add a single
line of code, you did so under the current license and, as much of this
happens anonymously, getting everyone to sign off on a license change is
just plain silly.

All GNU work carries GPL 2 or higher and most new work we do carries GPL
3 or higher but we work on projects with people who use other free
software licenses as well as the basic freedoms are preserved.

cdh
On Sep 1, 2010, at 10:50 AM, Jamal Mazrui wrote:

> I wish the best for the BrailleBlaster project.  I am curious, 
> however, whether the plan to use Eclipse as a platform will be a 
> problem for GNU support.  As far as I can tell, official statements on

> both the GNU and Eclipse web sites say that the GPL (2 or 3) is 
> incompatible with the Eclipse Public License:
> 
> Various Licenses and Comments about Them 
> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html
> 
> Eclipse Public License (EPL) Frequently Asked Questions 
> http://www.eclipse.org/legal/eplfaq.php
> 
> Can anyone clarify this issue?
> 
> Jamal
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: address@hidden
> [mailto:address@hidden On 
> Behalf Of Christian Hofstader
> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 5:42 AM
> To: address@hidden
> Subject: Re: [Access-activists] New member with a big project
> 
> It's great to have John here and continuing to work  in  the free 
> software community. BrailleBlaster is indeed very exciting and the 
> people who make proprietary Braille software are terrified of the Lib 
> Louis library that is already out there and forms the foundation for 
> the new program and are really shaking over the Java application.
> 
> Do we have a link to which we can point John regarding the vocabulary 
> of GNU and why we say, "GNU/Linux" and "free software" instead of 
> "open source" and such? I hurt too much to get into retyping any of
it.
> 
> cdh
> Welcome to our world John!
> 
> On 08/26/2010 04:30 PM, John J. Boyer wrote:
>> Some of you know about me and the project I am announcing. The 
>> BrailleBlaster project is written in Java, using SWT. Its braille 
>> engine is liblouisutdml which succeeds liblouisxml and calls
liblouis.
> 
>> Here is the announcement.
>> 
>> --------------------
>> 
>> This is an announcement of an exciting new software development 
>> project that will greatly increase the availability and usability of
> Braille.
>> For full details go to http://code.google.com/p/brailleblaster Since 
>> this is an open source project, you are invited to participate. We 
>> need transcribers and technical writers as well as programmers.
>> 
>> BrailleBlaster will be excellent for translating and formatting 
>> braille and inserting tactile graphics and hence release a blast of
> braille.
>> 
>> It will be very user-friendly for non-technical users but also 
>> powerful enough for experts.
>> 
>> Naive users will be able easily to compose simple documents and then 
>> translate and emboss them in braille or read them on a braille
> display.
>> 
>> Advanced users will be able to divide books into multiple braille 
>> volumes, with title pages, tables of contents, and end-notes for each

>> volume.
>> 
>> The BrailleBlaster project should be completed within less than two 
>> years.
>> 
>> BrailleBlaster will be fully usable in speech or braille by people 
>> who
> 
>> are blind.
>> 
>> It will be designed for Windows, MacIntosh, and Linux operating 
>> systems and common screenreaders
>> 
>> It will have visual display controls that make it maximally 
>> accessible
> 
>> for users with low vision and other visual disabilities.
>> 
>> It will be localized into most major languages.
>> 
>> BrailleBlaster will be developed under the Apache 2.0 license, which 
>> permits broad use, including use in commercial software.
>> 
>> BrailleBlaster's sponsors are ViewPlus Technologies, Inc. and 
>> Abilitiessoft, Inc. They will hold the license copyright.
>> 
>> 
> 
> --
> Happy Hacking,
> cdh
> 
> Christian Hofstader
> Director of Access Technology
> FSF/Project GNU
> http://www.gnu.org, http://www.fsf.org GNU's Not Unix!
> 
> 
>