Re: Licensing and the library version of git

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date: Jul 27, 2006, 16:38 UTC
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.63.0607271831200.29667@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de>
In-Reply-To: <9e4733910607270911p50d25d97w1a898fc7a9119e7d@mail.gmail.com>

Hi,

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006, Jon Smirl wrote:

Show 13 quoted lines

> On 7/27/06, Petr Baudis <pasky@suse.cz> wrote:
> > > You may like trying to force GPL onto the app but many apps are
> > > stuck with the license they have and can't be changed since there is
> > > no way to contact the original developers.
> > 
> > At this point, git-shortlog lists exactly 200 people (at least entries
> > like Unknown or No name are all linux@horizon.com ;-).
> 
> Inability to integrate with Microsoft Visual Studio is going to have a
> lot of impact on the cross platform use of git.  Is a conscious
> decision being made to stop this integration or is this just unplanned
> side effect of the original license? If this is an unplanned side
> effect, the quicker we move, the easier it is to fix.

If you want to do it, go ahead. I think the reason it has not been done so far is that nobody had the need, or alternatively was not ready to do it or hire someone to do it.

> Note that only the code going into the library needs to be LGPL. That
> should significantly reduce the number of authors that need to be
> contacted.

No and no.

Let me tackle the second point first: Almost all functionality is in the library, and more is to be transferred to it.

The first point: If you want to integrate git into MSVC, you have to provide it via the SCCI. Note that the letter "I" stands for "Interface", which makes a runtime linking with the component a non-derivative work. Which basically means that you need not GPL MSVC.

> A first step to fixing this would be to add an immediate requirement
> that all new code that is targeted to library functions be licensed
> LGPL. That will at least stop the problem from getting any worse.

If you still feel the need for LGPL, go ahead, find all contributors and contact them.

Ciao, Dscho