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freetds - Re: tsql infected with GPL

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  • From: Steve Langasek <vorlon AT netexpress.net>
  • To: TDS Development Group <freetds AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: tsql infected with GPL
  • Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 10:06:35 -0500

On Fri, Sep 27, 2002 at 10:01:23AM -0400, Brian Bruns wrote:
> > tsql.c currently contains an LGPL license. But it links with readline (if
> > installed), which I believe is enough to infect it with the full GPL.
> > Should the license on this file be updated?

> Technically you have LGPL tsql source + GPL readline = GPL tsql executable
> So, we don't necessarily have to change the license of the tsql source,
> just accept that the binary is under the provision of the GPL, IANAL.

> That said, it was my intention for tsql to be GPL and I munged it. How
> many significant contributors do we have? Not more than one or two beyond
> myself I'm sure, do we have buy-in to do the license change?

Hmmm. I was about to say that the LGPL already grants explicit approval
of converting to GPL, but I just realized there's a problem with tsql
binaries:

$ ldd src/apps/.libs/tsql
libreadline.so.4 => /lib/libreadline.so.4 (0x40027000)
libtds.so.1 => /usr/lib/libtds.so.1 (0x40050000)
libnsl.so.1 => /lib/libnsl.so.1 (0x40069000)
libssl.so.0.9.6 => /usr/lib/libssl.so.0.9.6 (0x4007d000)
libcrypto.so.0.9.6 => /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.0.9.6 (0x400a9000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x40163000)
libncurses.so.5 => /lib/libncurses.so.5 (0x4027e000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x402bd000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x40000000)

libreadline is GPL, and libssl is GPL-incompatible, so this binary is not
redistributable. Unfortunately, I just checked sqsh, and it has the same
problem. I'm going to see how feasible it is to have freetds link
against gnutls instead of openssl. The other option is to use editline
instead of readline.

Steve Langasek
postmodern programmer

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