A little while back, we were discussing the possibility of using Apache POI, and the issue of the Apache license being compatible with the LGPL came up. After mailing a couple of licensing mailing lists, and re-reading the LGPL license, it appears that the licenses are compatible. Would it be OK to go ahead with the Apache POI KSpread Excel export filter? Here's why it appears that the licenses are compatible and Apache POI can be used by KSpread: From the source, the LGPL license: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html Since the Apache POI library contains no code from KSpread, it is considered "work that uses the Library", and falls under sections 5 and 6 of the LGPL, which allow for linking non-LGPL libraries, under a certain set of conditions. KDE Licensing Mail List: http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-licensing&m=103898177106693&w=2 I got one response, (to my e-mail, not on the list): "Indeed, this is what the LGPL is meant for. I assume the Apache license is OK too." Debian Legal Mail List: http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2002/debian-legal-200211/msg00301.html There was one reply to the list, saying it should be OK, and suggesting that we use the BSD license for the filter to be extra sure that the licenses would be compatible. I also e-mailed the Free Software Foundation's, and haven't heard back from them (I'm sure they are busy). Thanks, TJ _______________________________________________ koffice-devel mailing list koffice-devel@mail.kde.org http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/koffice-devel