[Maria-discuss] mariadb : possible copyright issues?
I am using MySQL at present. I came across MariaDB, a drop-in replacement for MySQL.
2 simple questions-- 1) File names in MariaDB, in many cases, are same as those in MySQL. Wouldn't that attract objection from Oracle as 'breach of the copyright' ? 2) May I use MariaDB for commercial distribution (with or without using its source) ? Whether the license is similar to MIT license?
Thanks, Vineet
On 10/03/2012 02:18 AM, Vineet Deodhar wrote:
I am using MySQL at present. I came across MariaDB, a drop-in replacement for MySQL.
2 simple questions-- 1) File names in MariaDB, in many cases, are same as those in MySQL. Wouldn't that attract objection from Oracle as 'breach of the copyright' ? 2) May I use MariaDB for commercial distribution (with or without using its source) ? Whether the license is similar to MIT license?
Thanks, Vineet
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I can answer the first question. MySQL is released under the Gnu Public License (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html). The key requirements of the GPL is that originate provide the source code to the user and the user has the right to modify the code. If the user releases the modified code (under a new name), they must release under the same terms (GPL) the original code was released. The only potential copyright issue is if I modified MySQL and released it as MySQL and not as AnotherDB. The problem would be which MySQL is the official version and the owner of the MySQL name would have legal right because of my not renaming my fork.
My understanding of the GPL is that one can not change the license to another (MIT, BSD, and Apache) of any code originally released under it. If you were to use MySQL or MariaDB as part of a larger commercial project, my non lawyer, understanding is that you can provided that the GPL terms for MySQL / MariaDB is obeyed for them. The additional parts, I believe, can be released under another license if desired. I would read the GPL carefully,, it probably answers the most of your legal questions. More information is available http://www.gnu.org
Hi!
This is a small addition to Jay Lozier jslozier@gmail.com exellent answer.
"Vineet" == Vineet Deodhar vineet.deodhar@gmail.com writes:
Vineet> I am using MySQL at present. Vineet> I came across MariaDB, a drop-in replacement for MySQL.
Vineet> 2 simple questions-- Vineet> 1) File names in MariaDB, in many cases, are same as those in MySQL. Vineet> Wouldn't that attract objection from Oracle as 'breach of the copyright' ?
All files names are actually identical (and this is intentionally to keep MariaDB as a MySQL replacement).
Copyright doesn't apply to filenames. It's ok to have identical file names, binary names etc.
For example, GPL allows you to take a distribution, do some changes and redistribute it. It doesn't require you to change all file names just because you modified something. (Requiring that would probably be a breach of the GPL).
Vineet> 2) May I use MariaDB for commercial distribution (with or without using its Vineet> source) ? Whether the license is similar to MIT license?
You can't change MariaDB and distribute is as closed source. However, in many cases, as long as you don't link your application with a GPL library, you can use and distribute MySQL and MariaDB also with a closed source library.
For details, see: https://kb.askmonty.org/en/licensing-faq/
If needed, we can provide a LGPL C client library for those that prefer to use C to connect to MySQL/MariaDB.
Regards, Monty
participants (3)
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Jay Lozier -
Michael Widenius -
Vineet Deodhar