Re: [Chicken-users] [ANN] BerkeleyDB binding

[Thomas Chust]

2011/10/17 Andy Bennett <address@hidden>:
>> [...]
>> during the past days I've written a small binding for the BerkelyDB
>> library.
> [...]
> How does licensing of this work?
> I understand that BDB is available under the GPL for certain uses. Does
> your work get infected with that or is it entirely stand-alone?
> What happens if I have BDB under a commercial license? (Which, at work,
> I do.)
> [...]

Hello Andy,

I have placed my code under a BSD style license, which gives you a lot
of freedom to use it. It's not my intent to prevent the usage of my
code in a commercial context. But of course I can only define the
licensing terms for the software I have written myself, not for its
external dependencies.

As far as I can tell, BerkeleyDB is not licensed under GPL. Its
standard license does require that you release the source code of
software using BerkeleyDB, but unlike GPL it doesn't prescribe the
precise licensing terms of such code. [1]

Since I distribute my binding code in source form anyway, I don't see
any problems here.

If you use my CHICKEN binding for BerkeleyDB you will have to observe
the licensing terms of both the binding code and the original
library. The license of the binding code does not pose any
restrictions on you concerning use in commercial and/or closed source
context, other than requiring you to preserve the copyright and
license note.

So while the standard license of BerkeleyDB apparently prescribes open
sources for anything using it, iff you have a special license of
BerkeleyDB allowing you to use it in a closed source project, I don't
see any reason why you shouldn't be able to also use it through my
binding in that context.

However, I'm not an expert on intellectual property law, so please
consult someone who is, if you want reliable legal advice ;-)

Ciao,
Thomas


[1] 
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/berkeleydb/downloads/oslicense-093458.html


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