WinBtrfs is a Windows driver for the next-generation Linux filesystem Btrfs. The
ultimate aim is for it be to feature-complete, but most of the basics are there
already. It is a reimplementation from scratch, and contains no code from the
Linux kernel.
Just so there are no confusions. LGPL code is compatible with GPL code. With the latter being more 'free' (with less restrictions to users and more restrictions to creators), but you can mix it with more liberal code, like the BSD, MIT, Apache and... LGPL code, which at least has a linking exception so that you can use free LGPL libraries with commercial programs without having to publicize your entire project in exchange.
(Liberal licenses put less restrictions on creators, allowing them to use open source code and not giving back --at the cost of the user which will have to pay for proprietary software-- or re-licence it to GPL)
ReactOS at its core is primarily being licensed as GPLv2+, but surrounding the main kernel and Wine dependencies there's lots of tools and components with BSDs (the new memory manager?) and Apache (third party stuff like mbed TLS).
External patch contributor for ux/user-mode/l10n/winapi. Sometimes I fix a bit of everything everywhere.
Black_Fox wrote:Does that mean that after this Btrfs IFS technically stabilises, there will be no licence issue blocking its inclusion into ReactOS?
That's right! Both are complementary licenses used in different contexts. Go to the FSF website or https://tldrlegal.com/ and take a look at how this works.
External patch contributor for ux/user-mode/l10n/winapi. Sometimes I fix a bit of everything everywhere.
I'm aware of the general, high-level differences between the licences, but I was looking for this piece of knowledge specifically:
Wikipedia wrote:One feature of the LGPL is the permission to relicense under the GPL any piece of software which is received under the LGPL (see section 3 of the LGPL version 2.1, and section 2 option b of the LGPL version 3). This feature allows for direct reuse of LGPLed code in GPLed libraries and applications.
It would be incorrect to suggest that ReactOS' core is GPLv2+. There are significant parts of it that are GPLv2 only (or are actually BSD) and any attempt to try to relicense it as GPLv3 would face considerable opposition from the developers. Of the kernel developers there's an almost universal loathing for the GPLv3.
Z98 wrote:It would be incorrect to suggest that ReactOS' core is GPLv2+. There are significant parts of it that are GPLv2 only (or are actually BSD) and any attempt to try to relicense it as GPLv3 would face considerable opposition from the developers. Of the kernel developers there's an almost universal loathing for the GPLv3.
Have the developers ever thought of re-licensing or dual licensing as pure BSD? That would be really awesome.
Z98 wrote:It would be incorrect to suggest that ReactOS' core is GPLv2+. There are significant parts of it that are GPLv2 only (or are actually BSD) and any attempt to try to relicense it as GPLv3 would face considerable opposition from the developers. Of the kernel developers there's an almost universal loathing for the GPLv3.
Have the developers ever thought of re-licensing or dual licensing as pure BSD? That would be really awesome.
That would require a lot of paperwork (ask every past developer for permission -including people from WINE-, plus, as this project is so old there's plenty of MIA or deceased programmers) and I don't think it would be desirable if you want commercial users in the future giving back, you would be fostering private forks if those parties are not required to release modifications.
Guess why there are so little company contributions in BSDs? Hint: Real life companies aren't willing to spend money on things that aren't immediately profitable.
External patch contributor for ux/user-mode/l10n/winapi. Sometimes I fix a bit of everything everywhere.
Swyter wrote:ask every past developer for permission
... Are contributors not required to hand over copyright of their contributions to the ReactOS Foundation? That's really bad. I hope that's not the case.
Well, you can't change the copyright of external code like Wine, but you could still change the kernel's license.
Konata wrote:Have the developers ever thought of re-licensing or dual licensing as pure BSD? That would be really awesome.
Please give us one good reason, other than being awesome, why we should do that!
IMO, you only need a BSD-licensed ReactOS if you want to exploit the work of the contributors. If you do not want to exploit the project, the GPL does not restrict you in any way.
The GPLv2 was one of the main reasons why I joined the ReactOS project. If ReactOS was BSD-licensed, I would have contributed not even a single line of code.
My contributions are (L)GPL licensed and I will NOT dual- or re-license them. Period.