Re: [lwip-users] ¿GPL or BSD?

[Zschocke, Florian]

Sergio PérezAlcañiz wrote on Mittwoch, 12. März 2003 10:35:

Allow me to add my $0.2. I'm usually an avid advocat for the GPL but here
things are a bit different.

> The BSD license do not protect the freedom of the author in the
> sense that any company can just take the code and sell it

Yes, and that is what companies do with the lwIP code.

> The GPL prevents a malicious company of making money selling
> the "effort" (code, design, etc.) of other people. 

That is not entirely true or else there wouldn't be so many Linux distros
for sale, but I know what you mean. WHat's more, the GPL would prevent
companies to use the lwIP code in own products. 

> On the other hand, GPL code can be used by companies with not
> problem at all. If the GPL code states clearly the boundaries
> of the GPL code (please, see the
> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html), a company can use
> (link) the GPL code and sell ITS PRODUCT in a closed way.

Uhm, no. The main domain for the lwIP code, IMHO, is the embedded world.
That is a bit different from a Linux machine where you can run a lwIP stack
as a seperate process. In embedded systems you will often find an OS with no
concept of loading different processes at runtime. The whole system may be
compiled into one binary. If that would include the lwIP code then the whole
software would fall under the GPL. That is why the LGPL would not work for
lwIP either.

> but if the company
> improves the GPL code then the code belongs to the community
> which created it.  

Not per se, no. The GPL does not say that you have to give any changes you
make back to the original author. The GPL says that if you distribute a
software that is based on GPL code then you have to make an offer to get the
sources to the software to those that got the software from you. 


> Using the GPL will increase the development of the lwIP,
> because the companies that use it will return to the community
> its improvements. 

That is correct in so far as improvements made by companies would probably
find their way back to the code base. But the drawback is that probably less
companies would be using lwIP in the first place. 




Marc Boucher wrote on Mittwoch, 12. März 2003 16:06:

> The companies I've integrated lwIP for have all been
> very keen in contributing back bug fixes and improvements since
> they want to simplify integration of future lwIP versions (and
> avoid constant re-merging which would become increasingly
> difficult if the trees grew apart too much)

I second that. So what is better, a GPL'ed lwIP that less people use
(remember, the majority of the lwIP user base is from the embedded world, or
so I'd guess) or a BSD lwIP that more people are willing to use. Which model
will result in more contribution?



Kieran Mansley wrote on Mittwoch, 12. März 2003 11:54:

> There are also a number of people using lwIP
> for commercial purposes who are making very active
> contributions to lwIP.  Without them, I doubt it would have
> been developed at all in the last 6 months.  

Which brings me back to my question asked before: who is currently leading
the maintencance if lwIP? :) 

Florian.