maria-discuss team mailing list archive

[Arjen Lentz <arjen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Mark

On 04/09/2009, at 9:25 AM, MARK CALLAGHAN wrote:
> Back in the day there was an assertion in the MySQL internals PDF with
> respect to the license of any client library created after reading
> that doc. The PDF has been replaced by HTML and I don't see that claim
> anymore. Does anyone remember this? It is here:
> http://web.archive.org/web/20051224102135/dev.mysql.com/doc/internals/en/licensing-notice.html
>
> > > >
> Because this is a GPL protocol, any product which uses it to connect
> to a MySQL server, or to emulate a MySQL server, or to interpose
> between any client and server which uses the protocol, or for any
> similar purpose, is also bound by the GPL. Therefore if you use this
> description to write a program, you must release your program as GPL.
> Contact MySQL AB if you need clarification of these terms or if you
> need to ask about alternative arrangements.
> > > >


Ye I remember it. I think I helped make it disappear, when I spotted it.
Earlier instances were in the main docs and the website and had been  
cleaned up long before; the Internals stuff was published later.

David and Monty tell me that FSF actually agrees with the above to a  
degree, but I don't think it's a viable position.
Declaring that a protocol is GPL is not something you want to base a  
business on.
The counter argument is simple: if a protocol equates to linking, that  
means that Internet Explorer is linked to Apache.
The defence rests ;-)


Cheers,
Arjen.
--
Arjen Lentz, Exec.Director @ Open Query (http://openquery.com)
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