17
votes
Accepted
How to change the licence of Java project from GNU/ GPL to MIT / BSD / Apache
You cannot change the license of code from others, such as mysql-connector-java. That license is set by the author of that particular component (Oracle company).
If your client stated the requirement ...
- 1,083
16
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to bundle Oracles JRE with an open source program?
Short answer: No. The Java (JRE and JDK) binaries provided by Oracle come so many strings attached that they are practically unfit for any usage or redistribution with proprietary or open source-...
- 13.8k
11
votes
Accepted
How is Oracle suing Google for copyright infringement when Java is Open Source?
First Google never "forked Java" for Android. Google implemented its own Java for Android, but when doing so copied the API of Oracle JDK.
(and also copied a method named rangeCheck of 9 lines of ...
- 8,605
9
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to Bundle OpenJDK + HotSpot with a closed source application?
To the best of my knowledge Hotspot and most of the JVM code (mostly C/C++ native code) in the OpenJDK is released under the GPL 2.0 with Assembly Exception and not a "bare" GPL. This is in ...
- 13.8k
9
votes
Find a library license markdown_to_asciidoc?
[…] the problem is one of its transitive dependencies
nl.jworks.markdown_to_asciidoc:markdown_to_asciidoc:1.1
is with unknown license.
What does it mean?
It means that the license is not known.
Can ...
- 850
7
votes
Accepted
jarjar package renaming and Apache 2.0 license violation
Note: I am not a lawyer.
You are misinterpreting the "as-is" clause. "As is" does not mean you cannot modify the code (such a clause would, in fact, go against both the spirit and the letter of the ...
- 3,757
6
votes
How is Oracle suing Google for copyright infringement when Java is Open Source?
To review, the issue here is that Google used the structure of the Java API when implementing their own software. The appeals court found that the structure of an API is eligible for copyright ...
- 30.8k
6
votes
What part of Android will now have to be under the GPL?
Ah, but OpenJDK is not under the GPL. It is under the GPL with the Classpath Exception. You can read more about the class path exception here.
Here's the bulk of the exception:
As a special ...
- 6,209
6
votes
Accepted
OpenJDK vs OracleJDK Licensing?
All contributors to the OpenJDK project must agree to the Oracle Contributor Agreement (OCA). The OpenJDK contributor page summarizes:
The OCA gives Oracle and the Contributor joint copyright ...
- 30.8k
6
votes
What is the highest Java version I can use for free?
There is no limitation on the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK) you can use for free in commercial software.
You've misunderstood how Java is licensed: First of all, Java ...
- 171
6
votes
How to change the licence of Java project from GNU/ GPL to MIT / BSD / Apache
mysql-connector/j is licensed as GPLv2 by Oracle but has a FOSS Exception. If you want to distribute your software as FOSS, you can choose any license "that is OSI-approved and/or categorized by ...
- 265
5
votes
Accepted
Bundling JetBrains OpenJDK in closed source software
Your software does not fall under the GPL because you benefit from the Classpath exception. But you want to distribute an unmodified OpenJDK alongside your software. What license does this bundle (...
- 32.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Effect of 'download separately' on GPL linking
Strictly speaking this is out of scope of the GPL: The GPL would apply to your software iff your software is a derived work of the GPL library in the sense of copyright law. It is not up to the GPL to ...
- 32.8k
4
votes
Accepted
How to publish my open source library to Maven?
The standard way is to use sonatypes procedure: http://central.sonatype.org/pages/ossrh-guide.html
It is basically 2 steps:
setup an account with them (free, but you need to tell them about a page ...
- 553
4
votes
Accepted
Java and AGPL 3: how far does license extend into web app?
First there is no such thing as "infection". A bona-fide piece of FLOSS software is NOT a virus. There are only license obligations and requirements. Therefore a proper question should have ...
- 13.8k
4
votes
Copyright on files copied from other Open Source project to my Open Source
When copying a file from another project, you must always keep the copyright and license statements intact. At the most, you could change a phrase like "this file is part of project X" into something ...
- 22.8k
4
votes
Accepted
GPLv3 redistribution: when does it apply?
When I run this web application on a private company network and its is only available internally to my company employees?
No, see below.
When I run this application as a public web site on the ...
- 219
4
votes
How to change the licence of Java project from GNU/ GPL to MIT / BSD / Apache
According to https://www.mysql.com/about/legal/licensing/oem/, you are free to use any approved open source license for your code even if it is using the GPL'd MySQL library.
The license used by ...
- 141
3
votes
Can I use JavaFX in a Commercial Application for Free?
See my answer to this closely related question. The gist is:
You cannot use the BCL-licensed JavaFX as provided by Oracle as pre-built for much anything beyond some evaluation and development
You can ...
- 13.8k
3
votes
Distributing commercial Docker container image with openjdk:8-jdk
Am I allowed to do that? I'm concerned over the openjdk:8-jdk Docker container which includes a Debian GNU/Linux 9 image which uses a GPL license.
Yes you are allowed to do that alright. Assuming you ...
- 13.8k
3
votes
Is Java for server runtimes like JBoss EAP / Wildfly still free to use?
The short answer is that eventually Oracle may consider any kind of Java usage as "function specific" be it server or desktop-based and therefore not licensed.
The only sane thing is to use ...
- 13.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Extending class that exposes static methods from BSD Licensed project
As far as the copyright/license is concerned, there is no difference in what namespace you put things, so this is fine.
Whether it is a good idea for your re-users to do this is more of a question ...
- 8,956
3
votes
Can we redistribute OpenJDK tools.jar?
The original OpenJDK (and NOT any pre-built Java download from java.net) is licensed primarily under the GPL 2.0 with Classpath exception. The OPENJDK ASSEMBLY EXCEPTION also applies to some parts of ...
- 13.8k
3
votes
Accepted
License violation for OpenJDK and -Xbootclasspath/p:path?
If I switch to use OpenJDK, will I be faced with this same limitation? That is, would I be violating a license?
There is no such limitation in the OpenJDK licensing which is a combo of CDDL and GPL ...
- 13.8k
3
votes
Mixing Apache 2.0 and AGPLv3 in open-source project
Yeah, many insist that this linking will form a derivative work. Even if this notion isn't shared by law courts (and this wasn't really tested in court as far as i know), many people might avoid your ...
- 10.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Mixing Apache 2.0 and AGPLv3 in open-source project
The FSF insists that linking against a GPL library makes the result a derivative, and thus must be under GPL. That is not what the relevant law says (it is silent on "linking"). On the other hand, to ...
- 4,969
3
votes
I modified and used GPL2 Code in my Apache 2 Open Source Project - can my Project be used commercially, closed source?
It is by default not possible to combine Apache-2 licensed code with GPLv2-licensed code. Those licenses are incompatible. The Classpath Exception (CE) does provide a path towards compatibility, as ...
- 32.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Can the OpenJDK runtime be used to run third-party Java applications?
You are correct that under a plain GPL license, a runtime like the JRE/JDK would only allow the use of open-source applications with a GPL-compatible license.
However, the classpath exception to the ...
- 22.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible