licensing xerces

[Josh Bers <jb...@bbn.com>]

Hello,
	I have a question about the licensing terms of Xerces C++ libraries. We are
interested in using it in a commercial product. After reading the
license.txt file I have a couple of questions:

1. What is the nature of the code that is copyright IBM? What kind of
copyright is this? Where is the code from? Whom should I contact at IBM to
find out about this?

2. Can you think of any legal problems with distributing the Xerces library
with our commercial product?

I appreciate your help on this,

Josh

_________Josh Bers_________
Speech Solutions Group
BBN Technologies
Phone: 617 873-4262
Fax: 617 873-2473

Re: licensing xerces

[Michael Mason <mg...@decisionsoft.com>]

Christoph Kliemt wrote:
> 
> ->"Josh" == Josh Bers <jb...@bbn.com> writes:
> 
> [...]
> 
>  gpl? (em... err...  or is this a
>  "ibm-community-i-dont-realy-trust-gpl" license?!) ;)

The Apache license is most definitely *not* GPL -- if it were, you
couldn't use the code without making your software GPL too. [Skip Jihad
on GPL vs. other open source licenses] The Apache license basically says
it's okay to use the Apache code, as long as you acknowledge it
properly.

Mike.

-- 
Mike Mason, Software Engineer
XML Script Development Team                    Office: 44-1865-203192
http://www.xmlscript.org/                      Mobile: 44-7050-288923

Re: licensing xerces

[Christoph Kliemt <Ch...@FernUni-Hagen.de>]

->"Josh" == Josh Bers <jb...@bbn.com> writes:

[...]

 gpl? (em... err...  or is this a
 "ibm-community-i-dont-realy-trust-gpl" license?!) ;)

 Josh>  I appreciate your help on this,

 Josh>  Josh

 \\// christoph
-- 
Java ist die Fortsetzung von C mit anderen Mitteln.

Re: licensing xerces

[Mike Pogue <mp...@apache.org>]

Josh Bers wrote:
> 
> Hello,
>         I have a question about the licensing terms of Xerces C++ libraries. We are
> interested in using it in a commercial product. After reading the
> license.txt file I have a couple of questions:
> 
> 1. What is the nature of the code that is copyright IBM? What kind of
> copyright is this? Where is the code from? Whom should I contact at IBM to
> find out about this?

Xerces code is freely usable under the Apache license.  The code was
originally
developed at IBM, and made available to xml.apache.org under the Apache
license.

You don't need to contact anybody at IBM on this!  The Apache license is
publically
available.
 
> 2. Can you think of any legal problems with distributing the Xerces library
> with our commercial product?
>

Nope.  But, since you are considering using open source code in a
commercial product, 
you should always consult YOUR lawyer for advice.  I'm not a lawyer, so
I can't advise
you on this.  

I think you will find that the Apache license is friendly to
commercial-software.
Of course, we will continue to encourage you to participate here, in the
development
of the code itself!

Mike