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Re: JDOM license



On Tue, 1 May 2012 19:19:55 +0200 Francesco Poli wrote:

[...]
> 4. Products derived from this software may not be called "JDOM", nor
> may "JDOM" appear in their name, without prior written permission
> from the JDOM Project Management <request_AT_jdom_DOT_org>.
[...]

I think that this clause starts as a name-change restriction (which is
considered DFSG-free, due to DFSG#4, but is GPL-incompatible anyway),
but then goes beyond and forbids an infinite set of possible names for
derived products.

I think that this clause makes JDOM fail to comply with the DFSG, but
it seems that FTP Masters disagree, since an almost identical clause is
present in the PHP License version 3.01, and PHP is in Debian (main),
unfortunately.
I repeatedly stated my opinion on the non-freeness of PHP, but I failed
to gain consensus on debian-legal.
My analysis of the PHP License is here:
https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/11/msg00272.html


Anyway, as far as GPL-compatibility is concerned, I think it's pretty
clear that JDOM is *not* GPL-compatible.

I hope this helps.
Bye.


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