Question regarding modules/pluggins license?

[Tony Linde]

> Nobody would make this argument about the Java API, of 
> course, which is widely described and has several independent 
> implementations.

But which is owned and controlled by a commercial organisation which refuses
to allow it to be put under a standards organisation! :)

Tony. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ian Lance Taylor [mailto:ian at airs.com] 
> Sent: 01 March 2004 14:52
> To: ael at star.le.ac.uk
> Cc: 'Larry Masters'; license-discuss at opensource.org
> Subject: Re: Question regarding modules/pluggins license?
> 
> "Tony Linde" <ael at star.le.ac.uk> writes:
> 
> > How can writing to an API force you to conform to that product's 
> > license? If that was the case, a Java app running on 
> Windows would be 
> > illegal and on Linux would have to be GPLed.
> 
> A number of people have argued that if the only 
> implementation of an API is under the GPL, and if the API is 
> not independently described, nor managed by a standards 
> organization, then writing to that API is, in effect, 
> creating a derived work of the software which implements the API.
> 
> A number of people have argued the opposite.
> 
> Nobody would make this argument about the Java API, of 
> course, which is widely described and has several independent 
> implementations.
> 
> Ian
> 

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