On Mon, Feb 23, 2004 at 12:18:12AM +0100, Casper Hornstrup wrote:
-----Original Message----- From: ros-general-bounces@reactos.com [mailto:ros-general- bounces@reactos.com] On Behalf Of Steven Edwards Sent: 22. februar 2004 22:29 To: ros-general@reactos.com Subject: [ros-general] License issue with OpenSSL and ReactOS (GPL)
Hello, I am out of development for a few weeks but I have some ideas about using OpenSSL in ReactOS but we have one minor show stoppper. The OpenSSL license is not compatible with the GPL so any code that links to OpenSSL is going to need to be either LGPL or GPL with a exception for OpenSSL. We need to use OpenSSL in a few user-space dlls (wininet, rsabase, cryptoapi) and in our implementation of the security subsystem (lsass, ntoskrnl/se, samlib, etc). In the user-space stuff this isnt a issue as nothing is really implemented anyway but in the security subsystem side this may cause a problem because we already have some existing code. Can we license all of ReactOS as GPL and only license those files that directly link to OpenSSL as "GPL+Exception"? The is a problem because OpenSSL uses a BSD style advertising clause that is incompatible with the GPL.
Thanks Steven
According to attorney Lawrence Rosen, whom specializes in technology, dynamic linking of program A with program B does not make program A a derivative work of program B. So if program B is GPL'ed then program A does not need to be GPL compatible. So you could build a DLL from OpenSSL without using GPL'ed code (like the GPL'ed ReactOS headers) and you could use that DLL in your GPL'ed program without imposing restrictions from the GPL on the non-GPL'ed program.
Probably this is true, legally spoken, but in the spirit of the GPL it does. It does according to RMS, so the next version of GPL might very well state something on linking explicitely. I'd think we better stay on the safe site. The GPL never really was a legal document anyway.
Mark