Change license to GPL3

[swsnr]

@bbatsov Do we need to change the license to GPL3?

I think this mode needs to be relicensed, because it is effectively a work based on Emacs for the purpose of the GPL 3, so it needs to be GPL 3 as well.

I am not sure though, whether we can just change the license. According to Wikipedia the Apache 2 license is compatible with the GPL 3, so we could just switch, however according to the terms of the Apache 2 license we'd have to retain the whole Apache 2 license blurb.

I opened puppetlabs/puppet-syntax-emacs#12 to clarify this situation. Depending on the responses, we might also ask on Emacs-devel or whatever list GNU has for such issues.

I hate licensing…

[bbatsov]

Indeed, we should. The Apache license, while pretty permissive, is incompatible with Emacs's GPL 3 license.

[swsnr]

@bbatsov Yeah, but can we? I have no clue of all the intricates of licensing, and don't even know whom to ask about this. Is there a GNU mailing list dedicated to such licensing questions?

[bbatsov]

According to this - we can http://stackoverflow.com/questions/107726/licensing-changing-apache-license-v2-code-to-gplv3-licensed-code

It says here you can legally change Apache 2.0 license to GPL 3 (although not so plainly).

Anyways, seems unlikely that PuppetLabs would make any trouble if we're willing to provide better support for their product. :-)

[swsnr]

On the other: http://stackoverflow.com/a/107819/355252

Apache License requires you to retain all notices. So, we can change to GPL 3, but must retain Apache notices in the file.

The SFCL has a nice page on this problem, see http://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2007/gpl-non-gpl-collaboration.html, especially section 2.2. I think that's probably the safest way to go, if there is any safety at all in these legal matters.

[bbatsov]

That's OK. Looking at the code, once we're done with it, puppet-mode will likely no longer have any of the original code. At this will be able to drop the Apache license.

[swsnr]

Well, some parts might remain, such as font lock keywords. I think we should retain the notice forever, it doesn't do any harm after all. And it doesn't mean that the code as a whole is Apache 2 licensed. All our modifications are GPL-3 only. We just state that we incorporated Apache 2 licensed code.

[bbatsov]

Fine by me. 

—

Cheers,
Bozhidar

On Sun, Aug 18, 2013 at 1:06 PM, Sebastian Wiesner
notifications@github.com wrote:

Well, some parts might remain, such as font lock keywords. I think we should retain the notice forever, it doesn't do any harm after all. And it doesn't mean that the code as a whole is Apache 2 licensed. All our modifications are GPL-3 only. We just state that we incorporated Apache 2 licensed code.

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub:
#3 (comment)

[swsnr]

Changed the license, and did some initial cleanup.