[Dazuko-devel] Licenses

[John Ogness]

Hi,

I guess I should have anticipated this topic from the start. If Dazuko 
wants to evolve to be a cross-platform standard, it needs a license that 
will permit this. Unfortunately, the GPL license would make things very 
difficult (if not impossible) for MacOS X, FreeBSD, Solaris, and Windows 
integration. I understand and respect the GPL, however I feel it will 
hinder Dazuko from becoming a cross-platform standard for file access 
control.

I would like to move Dazuko to a BSD license (just as I have already 
done with the interface). On Linux, this shouldn't change anything. When 
Dazuko is built using the Linux source, it will fall under the GPL 
license (which is ok, because the GPL also satisfies BSD). This means 
that Dazuko under Linux will still be GPL'd (as it is currently), but it 
also means that under other operating systems it will BSD. This will 
even satisfy Microsoft licensing.

What is the downside? It would mean that on non-Linux operating systems, 
organizations could make changes to Dazuko and not be required to 
display or recommit their changes. I, however, feel that this is a minor 
issue and that Dazuko would not become a platform for organizational 
disputes and competitions.

Before moving Dazuko to a BSD license, I would like to get some feedback 
about it. I will also be contacting the other developers to get their 
specific input:
        Andre Duclos
        Danilo Massa
        Steve Wade

With the DazukoXP middle layer well underway, a FreeBSD port of Dazuko 
is sure to come soon. I don't want to get tangled in licensing issues 
when we get there.

John Ogness

--
Dazuko Maintainer