Re: State of PostgreSQL's drivers in Python

On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 13:41, Pierluigi Di Nunzio <gg-NGVKUo/i/[email protected]> wrote:

> I think that the spirit of the license is: this is free software as the GPL
> says.
>

If that were the case, then the license would just be GPL with the OpenSSL
exception (at least in spirit, if not in real text).  However, the license
states:

"Note that the GPL was chosen to avoid proprietary adapters based on
psycopg code. Using psycopg in a proprietary product (even bundling
psycopg with the proprietary product) is fine as long as:

 1. psycopg is called from Python only using only the provided API
    (i.e., no linking with C code and no C modules based on it); and"

It is unclear whether this allows for binary-only distribution of said
"proprietary" product, but I find it hard to interpret in any other way.
 This is clearly something the base GPL does *not* allow - distribution and
use of psycopg in a binary-only commercial product not distributed under the
GPL.  Of course, *this* text may not allow that either - it appears to in
isolation, but then later in the license file you get:

"A non-exclusive license is available for companies that want to include
psycopg in their proprietary products without respecting the spirit of the
GPL."

But it's unclear where this differs from the first exception.

At the very least, license exceptions should include proper legal
definitions of the controlling terms they use that are not used in the
original license (the GPL does not define the term "proprietary product").
 The psycopg2 license should almost certainly also define the terms
"adapter" and "bundling".

If the intention is to allow non-GPL software (commercial or otherwise) to
employ psycopg2 to connect to PostgreSQL databases (merely as a necessity of
implementing some other application functionality - I think we can all agree
that the spirit of the license appears to be that no one can use psycopg2 as
the foundation of a commercial database driver), then this license isn't
clear enough to allow it.  If the intention is not to allow this, then the
license is merely confusing.

--
Nick

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