Re: FRR package in Debian violates the GPL licence
On Sat, 16 Mar 2019, Paul Jakma wrote:
> The code concerned however is explicitly /not/ being distributed under
> the terms required by the GPL licence, but rather much weaker licences
> (BSD or MIT/X11, e.g.). Licenses which fail to implement the
> reciprocal source code publication conditions of the GPL, amongst
> other things.
Because Debian distributes[1] FRR in compliance with the terms of the
GPL, and the terms of the license of the subparts of FRR are compatible
with the GPL, Debian is not in violation of the terms of the GPL.
> It is - I am advised - not permitted by the GPL and infringing of my
> copyright in thise code-base, and also incitement to commit copyright
> infringement. As such, the termination clause of the GPL became
> applicable to FRR.
The termination clause of the GPL applies to entities who are
redistributing FRR not to the code base in general; as Debian
redistributes in compliance with the GPL (and presumably the FRR project
on github does as well), Debian hasn't activated GPL-2 §4.
I suggest reaching out to Richard Fontana (or your own legal
representation) if any of this is unclear;
https://github.com/FRRouting/frr/issues/1923 has the start of covering
some of this.
1: Or at least, we should be; if not, please file the bug so it can be
fixed.
--
Don Armstrong https://www.donarmstrong.com
The game of science is, in principle, without end. He who decides one
day that scientific statements do not call for any further test, and
that they can be regarded as finally verified, retires from the game.
-- Sir Karl Popper _The Logic of Scientific Discovery_ §11
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