Re: Java, GPL and CDDL
On 16/11/2007, Alexander Terekhov <alexander.terekhov@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yeah, sort of vexed. But have you ever noticed "GPL is a license not a
> contract" folks citing ANY authority to back that legal nonsense
> claim? Consider:
>
> [lots and lots of case citations]
It may or may not be correct, but I don't see how it is a "nonsense".
It is certainly possible (under common law systems at least) to have a
non-contractual licence. Whether the GPL falls into that category, and
what the consequences of that are, is a different question, and one
which I'm not sure your citations answer.
Anyway, on reflection I'm not sure it makes a huge difference to the
principles involved even if the GPL is held to be a contract. Under
English law, at least, you could probably put an argument together
saying that the release of software under the GPL constitutes an
"offer to the world" by the original licensor. The outcome remains
essentially the same, as regards the argument in my previous email.
John
(TINLA)
PS - no need to cc me, as I'm subscribed to the thread. Alternatively,
I'm happy to take this discussion off-list, as it is getting
increasingly OT.
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