Re: IFS in RPG - GPL

Hi David,

> Actually, it isn't "David Morris' open source toolkit" -- the project is
> open to any developer that wants to contribute and is hosted by Source
> Forge. It just happened that I have contributed the bulk of the code, I
> would really like to get others involved and if changing the license
> helps get more involvement, I am all for it.

I apologize if my comment was misleading. I was simply recognizing the fact
that you kicked off the project, and remain the most recognizable
contributor.


> Unless you want to embed the code in a package that you want to
> distribute you will be just fine. If you want to distribute something
> with the iSeries-toolkit code and it is free there should be no
> problems. If you want to distribute something that you charge for, you
> can simply code your calls to the iSeries-toolkit classes and include
> instructions on how your customer can download the package (you can even
> distribute it if it isn't embedded in your product).

Please see my reply to Buck. This simply doesn't sound correct to me, in
light of the information available at www.gnu.org.

> If this is too onerous, it is likely that it can be changed to an Apache
> or lgpl license. I would want someone to come up with a real scenario
> and not just speculation because it will require some real work. My main
> concern is that the work of the contributers be recognized in any
> product that uses the iSeries-toolkit.

David, regardless of the actual GLP itself, the very confusion surrounding
it's terms of use make the use of GPL software within a business application
too risky. In the overall scheme of things, the toolkit itself might
represent 2-3% of the overall code within a typical business application. In
my opinion, the risk far outweighs the potential time saved, so I wouldn't
touch a GPL toolkit with the proverbial ten foot pole.

Even the requirement for recognition might prove problematic, depending upon
what that actually means. Does it mean that I now have to have a "splash"
screen at the beginning of my application? Does it mean that each display
screen has to have some type of copyright notice? The devil is always in the
details!


John Taylor