Re: GNU readline and BSD license - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

From Alfred Perlstein
Subject Re: GNU readline and BSD license
Date
Msg-id 20001229160946.C19572@fw.wintelcom.net
Whole thread Raw
In response to Re: GNU readline and BSD license  (Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net>)
Responses Re: GNU readline and BSD license  (Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>)
List pgsql-hackers
* Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> [001229 16:01] wrote:
> The Hermit Hacker writes:
> 
> > Is there a reason *not* to move towards that for v7.2 so that the
> > functions we are making optional with readline are automatic?  Since we
> > could then ship the code, we could make it a standard vs optional
> > "feature" ...
> >
> > My thought would be to put 'make history feaure standard using libedit'
> > onto the TODO list and take it from there ...
> 
> In my mind this is a pointless waste of developer time because there is no
> problem to solve here.  I'm sure we all have better things to do than
> porting libedit to a dozen systems and then explaining to users why the
> tarball is bloated and their carefully composed readline configuration
> doesn't work anymore.
> 
> If there is something functionally wrong with Readline then let's talk
> about it, but let's not replace it with something because some PHP dude
> said that RMS said something.

From http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
 This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into proprietary programs. If your program is a
subroutinelibrary, you may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the library. If this
iswhat you want to do, use the GNU Library General Public License instead of this License.
 

My understanding (from the recent discussion) is that Postgresql
has certain dependancies on libreadline and won't compile/work
without it, if true this effectively forces anyone wishing to derive
a viable commercial product based on Postgresql to switch to the
GPL or port to libedit anyway.

If readline is completely optional then there's really no problem.

-- 
-Alfred Perlstein - [bright@wintelcom.net|alfred@freebsd.org]
"I have the heart of a child; I keep it in a jar on my desk."


pgsql-hackers by date:

Previous
From: The Hermit Hacker
Date:
Subject: Re: GNU readline and BSD license
Next
From: Tom Lane
Date:
Subject: Re: GNU readline and BSD license