[Tinyos-alliance] Apache licensing

[Philip Levis]

On Feb 4, 2006, at 7:59 AM, Matt Welsh wrote:

> It is worth noting that the FSF and Apache Foundation hold different
> views of this.
>
> The FSF's position is here:
> http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/
>
> It is rather vague but simply says that Apache is incompatible with  
> the
> GPL.
>
> Apache's is here:
> http://www.apache.org/foundation/licence-FAQ.html#GPL
>
> Quoting from the Apache pages:
>
> "Is the Apache license compatible with the GPL (GNU Public License)?
>
> It is the unofficial position of The Apache Software Foundation  
> that the
> Apache license is compatible with the GPL. However, the Free Software
> Foundation holds a different position, although we have not been  
> able to
> get them to give us categorical answers to our queries asking for
> details on just what aspects they consider incompatible.
>
> Whether to mix software covered under these two different licenses  
> must
> be a determination made by those attempting such a synthesis."

The FSF's position depends on which *version* of the Apache License  
you use. I should have been clearer in my original mail. In the page  
you reference, the FSF states that

1.0 is incompatible
1.1 is compatible
2.0 is (possibly) incompatible

The reason 1.0 is incompatible is the same as the original BSD  
license. The FSF describes the problem in their FAQ:

http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#OrigBSD

1.1 removed the clause and so is GPL-compatible. It does require  
attribution in documentation, but not in advertising.

The issues on 2.0 stem from a murky patent debate.  The (possible)  
issues with 2.0 are outlined here:

http://www.apache.org/licenses/GPL-compatibility.html

So the question of Apache comes down to which license. I don't think  
that GPL incompatibility (e.g., 1.0 and 2.0) is a total show-stopper.  
The benefits may outweigh the costs. I just thought it would be  
useful to describe half of the logic why the core has (recently)  
required the modified BSD license. The other half was what Rob raised.

Phil