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List:       ubuntu-users
Subject:    java
From:       robilad () kaffe ! org (Dalibor Topic)
Date:       2004-11-30 18:49:15
Message-ID: loom.20041130T182841-819 () post ! gmane ! org
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David Coldrick <coldrick <at> gmail.com> writes:

> 
> Again, I'm no lawyer, but the *intent* of that first phrase is simply
> to prevent people from providing alternative components to replace the
> components being distributed from Sun: so it is indeed not allowed to
> modify/ enhance/whatever the distributed software. 

I trust Sun's lawyers to be qualified to encode the intent of Sun into a
software license. So if they use ambiguous wording, I'd assume that they do it
on purpose.

To me "you do not distribute additional software intended to replace any
component(s) of the Software" looks broad enough to cover any free software
implementation of parts of the JRE/JDK, and that covers jikes, fastjar, gcj,
kaffe, ikvm, ... The clause seems broad enough also to cover many Java
applications that use -Xbootclasspath to work around bugs in JRE/JDK by
replacing the broken components of the JDK/JRE by less broken ones.

Whether you feel comfortable with that as a distributor is a different issue, of
course. Most volunteer-run software distributions don't seem to, though. And as
long as Sun doesn't rewrite the license to state their presumably benign
intentions, I don't see why volunteer-run distributions should expose themselves
to legal issues by agreeing to bogus terms. If you have some cash to burn, you
can negotiate a commercial use license with Sun, though.

I've recently looked at the JRE 1.4 license, and it looks very unuseable for a
volunteer-based distribution. See
http://lists.debian.org/debian-java/2004/09/msg00053.html for some of the juicy
bits. Both the JDK 1.5 and JRE 1.5 license don't seem to have improved their
redistribution terms.

While I'm having fun with the license's SUPPLEMENTAL TERMS, B, there is this gem
right at the start:

"(i) you distribute the Software complete and 
unmodified and only bundled as part of, and for the sole 
purpose of running, your Programs," 

Maintaining a package sort-of requires being able to modify the broken scripts
and similar annoyances. Sun's way of packaging things is, to put it mildly, not
very pleasant and in rather low regard in the respective packaging community.
See http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do;:WuuT?bug_id=4680244 for a bug
report that's some two years old now, regarding their lack of appreciation for
LSB or file system hierarchy. Resolution has been deferred to future releases
last week :) So much for the annoyances caused by 'complete and unmodified'.

The 'only bundled as part of' section would seem to suggest that each Java
application needs to be packaged with its own copy of the JDK in the package,
which may work for some ISV's software installer on Windows, but is a rather
silly idea on GNU/Linux.

Worse, though, distribution is only allowed for 'your Programs', which I guess
means programs the distributor is the copyright holder for. Most distributions
won't write their java apps themselves, I fear, so they are out. The 'sole
purpose of running' clause is bogus as well, as it prohibits using the
distributed JDK to develop new programs, for example, which makes distributing
the 'Java Development Kit' a bit pointless. :)

> As to the second point, well, as you say, it needs thought.
> 
> The reference http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/source_license.html is
> pretty good: it includes this:
> 
> "Both the JDK and JRE can be freely redistributed with value-add. JDK
> or JRE use for embedded devices and other computing environments may
> require a license fee from Sun"

'freely redistributed' is a bit of marketing boldness, given that Sun's legal
team spends a whole paragraph in SUPPLEMENTAL TERMS, section B to define the
restrictions at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/jdk-1_5_0-license.txt.

cheers,
dalibor topic




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