Re: [ossig] CA open-sources Ingres database - News & Technology -CNETAsia

[Dinesh Nair <dinesh@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 26 May 2004, Kenneth Wong wrote:

> If it's GPL mysql, then it's got everything to do with linking to mysql
> libraries cause the "share-alike" portion of the GPL kicks in.

not really. mysql is dual-licensed, so you may use the database/link to
its libraries with your closed source app if you pay them a license fee.
doing this means they'll license you mysql under the commercial license
which means you're free from the restrictions of the gpl.

> However, if you are not using MySQL in a way that invokes the GPL (read
> GPL for specifics), then you can still use your non-OSS app with the
> GPL version of mysql.

it's not use of mysql. it's the license you release your mysql-enabled app
under. that defines if you can use mysql under the gpl or commercial
license. the key point here is the license they decide to grant you is
their perogative. see below snippet from their licensing page:

<quote>
If your software is licensed under either the GPL-compatible Free Software
License as defined by the Free Software Foundation or approved by OSI,
then use our GPL licensed version.

If you distribute a proprietary application in any way, and you are not
licensing and distributing your source code under GPL, you need to
purchase a commercial license of MySQL
</quote>

admittedly, they've interspaced/mixed GPL with OSI approved licenses.
however, based on my conversations with david axmark, they actually mean
OSI approved licenses and not GPL specifically.

> It's not necessarily true that if app != OSS, must pay license fee.
> That's FUD MySQL sells to make you buy their licenses.

i dont think so.

> They say at the start, "Our software is 100% GPL" and continue to say,
> "Under the Open Source License, you must release the complete source
> code for the application that is built on MySQL."

yes. their mysql GPL version is 100% GPL. however they do not force _your_
software to be GPL to use their GPL versions. your software can be any one
of the OSI approved licenses.

the key point here is mysql has two licensing regimes:

1. a GPL license
2. a commercial license

if your app is released under an OSI approved license (GPL, APL, BSD et
al), then they'll grant you license #1 to use/distribute mysql

if your app is not under an OSI license then they'll grant you license #2.

Regards,                           /\_/\   "All dogs go to heaven."
dinesh@alphaque.com                (0 0)    http://www.alphaque.com/
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