Restrictive license

[kramer99]

Hi,

First, let me say thanks for backporting these Java 8 features. I work for a company called Ionic Security, and would like to use streamsupport, but we can't use any libraries licensed under GPLv2. Would you consider changing the license to something more permissive, ie: LGPL, BSD, or MIT?

[stefan-zobel]

Hi Craig,

the license ist not GPLv2.

Rather, it's GNU General Public License, version 2, with the Classpath Exception (the license that OpenJDK uses).
That's a big difference. Why wouldn't you be able to use streamsupport for anything you want?

Anyway, I can't simply change the license because this code is derived from the OpenJDK code. In fact, it is almost identical in most areas.
So, that wouldn't be legal.

Regards,
Stefan

[stefan-zobel]

FWIW, I've once been told by a legal expert that GPL v2 with the Classpath Exception is even less restrictive than LGPL.

[kramer99]

Thanks for getting back so quickly. I had not heard of the Classpath Exception before. From my quick googling on it, it appears that it would be fine for us to use. Will have to run it past our lawyer first I suppose though.

…

On Fri, Nov 10, 2017 at 11:13 AM, stefan-zobel ***@***.***> wrote: FWIW, I've once been told by a legal expert that GPL v2 *with the Classpath Exception* is even *less* restrictive than LGPL. — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#19 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AGGx_R5-m_tvcnU8aUO9ApcI-zLrvN3Aks5s1KA_gaJpZM4QZ9Jl> .

[stefan-zobel]

Do that (and good luck).

The license file is here : https://sourceforge.net/projects/streamsupport/files/1.5.6-stable/LICENSE/download
(in the upstream master project).

Out of curiosity, do you target Android or some older JRE?

Regards,
Stefan

[kramer99]

Plain Java 7 for server applications.

[stefan-zobel]

Cool, nice to hear (I'm often thinking that I have Android clients only).

Any chance that you'll be running on an IBM JRE? That would require passing a system property to the VM (you can find details here: #13)

However, Sun / Oracle are fine and get tested regularly from Java 6 - Java 10.

[stefan-zobel]

A related issue is: #10