The GPL is the license that would require change not the MPL. (there already is such a change called LGPL btw)
The GPL says if you link to anything GPL, your whole program and anything that links to it is GPL. Once that happens all your rights to use the software for business are gone unless you are the sole owner of the code. Therefore it's not possible for FreeSWITCH to be compatible with the GPL.
If you look at the obvious use case: someone takes libGPLgoodies and wraps it in a 10 line exe and sells it for $20, its construed as unfair. Probably true...... so the GPL narrow-mindedly focuses on this paradigm.
Now turn the tables and imagine MongoAPP that does all kinds of different functions that has mod_GPL_Hello_World.so that just prints hello world on the console. That too would cause all of MongoAPP to become GPL which is enough to make you spit out your drink in disbelief.
The only way around it is to avoid GPL software which is our common practice and has worked well for us thus far. We just choose not to get involved with it due to difference of opinion.
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 12:40 PM, Mathieu Parent
<math.parent@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 5:18 PM, Anthony Minessale
> I want the native stack to succeed because our goal was to have an open
> source BSD licensed free ISDN stack so we can put an end to people selling
> it for ungodly fees.
> The libpri is fine to use if a user assembles it himself but ultimately it's
> GPL and there is a grey-area license conflict with using with FS.
> Technically OpenZAP/FreeTDM is BSD and compat with libpri but according to
> the greedy GPL, when you load it the GPL infects the whole code and makes it
> also GPL. FS is MPL and is happily compat with OpenZAP/FreeTDM but there is
> a philosophical debate as to if the BSD lib in the middle that completely
> abstracts the 2 entities, protects FS from the GPL
> FreeTDM is still OpenZAP, just with another name. Sangoma is only working
> on their own modules for FreeTDM and the API as a whole still supports
> everything OpenZAP does. I think stkn will merge his stack back into
> FreeTDM and it can continue to be developed for those who don't have Sangoma
> cards.
>
Next MPL version might be compatible with GPL. It is in the spec list
http://mpl.mozilla.org/scope/ . As MPL 2.0 is scheduled for fall 2010,
we will know more then. Also FreeSWITCH is MPL 1.1 and not "MPL 1.1 or
later" so it will need to be relicensed.
Talking about relicensing, why not relicense FreeSWITCH under
MPL/LGPL/GPL as Mozilla does, and for the same reasons (see
http://www-archive.mozilla.org/MPL/relicensing-faq.html#why-relicensing
for explanation)?
Regards
Mathieu Parent
--
Anthony Minessale II
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