Re: License question

[Nathan Beyer <nd...@apache.org>]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 12:51 AM, Niclas Hedhman<ni...@hedhman.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 5:30 AM, Ted Ross<tr...@redhat.com> wrote:
>> I would like to add a new m4 macro definition (AC_PROG_SWIG) to the CPP
>> build directory but it has the following license text.  I understand that
>> GPLv2 is not compatible with the Apache license but I don't know if the
>> stated exceptions make it ok to incorporate this source.
>>
>> Can someone with more legal knowledge that I have weigh in on this?
>
> IANAL, nor do I remember if this has been discussed in the past.
> My interpretation is roughly; If your project is listing M4 as a
> system requirement, i.e. similar to what the JDK/JRE is for a Java
> application, and if your M4 macro is brand new, I don't see how GPL of
> M4 could force your M4 macro into GPL. If you are modifying another
> person's macro, then the exception clauses you mention would kick in,
> i.e. "it depends".
>
>> # LICENSE
>> #
>
> Where was this text from?
> I think it would help if you could explain to us mere mortals how the
> M4 process work, in case we are talking code generation, inheritance
> and other messy circumstances.

M4 is a macro language itself [1] and is a standard part of
UNIX/POSIX. On Linux-based systems, you'll usually get GNU M4, which
is an interpreter of the language and provides some proprietary
extensions to the language. There are implementations on the various
BSDs.

Generally, you write an M4 macro to generate another text file that
repeats similar text over and over. I've seen it used in an SMTP
server for generating the overly complex config files - tweak the
macro file with the domain name, generate the config with the M4
processor.

I would think the above assessment is correct - M4 tools shouldn't be
an issue, but if the M4 macro/code is licensed in an incompatible way,
then there may be a concern.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_(computer_language)

>
>
> Cheers
> --
> Niclas Hedhman, Software Developer
> http://www.qi4j.org - New Energy for Java
>
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>
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