FSF vs Apache: Is the GPL and Apache License compatible???
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 8:40 am
These situations I thought were relatively rare - but its hard to ignore when they suddenly appear in your face.
I'm currently working on an open source PHP game, which incorporates a loose framework (very loose - no comparing me to Cake...
). It relies heavily on a collection of 3rd party libraries. Now my problem is including a logging library. Something immensely useful, something I thought was obvious, and something for which there seem few options. I'm not inclined to rely on PEAR because the application will be widely distributed on a large enough base of systems that PEAR is unreliable.
There is however log4php (a port of log4j). Became interested after reading about it in phpArchitect, and after reading the source (its a little convoluted but very adaptable). The problem of course is that the project is Apache sponsored, and under the Apache License 2.0.
My question - can such a library be included in GPL source given the glaring disagreement between FSF and Apache? Apache claim their license is GPL compatible, the FSF claim its not - and neither side appear to have resolved the difference. And who knows what surprises GPL3 will bring (coming to a screen near you next week).
What's an open source developer to do - reinvent wheels? Can anyone suggest a similar logging library perhaps?
log4php: http://logging.apache.org/log4php/
I'm currently working on an open source PHP game, which incorporates a loose framework (very loose - no comparing me to Cake...
There is however log4php (a port of log4j). Became interested after reading about it in phpArchitect, and after reading the source (its a little convoluted but very adaptable). The problem of course is that the project is Apache sponsored, and under the Apache License 2.0.
My question - can such a library be included in GPL source given the glaring disagreement between FSF and Apache? Apache claim their license is GPL compatible, the FSF claim its not - and neither side appear to have resolved the difference. And who knows what surprises GPL3 will bring (coming to a screen near you next week).
What's an open source developer to do - reinvent wheels? Can anyone suggest a similar logging library perhaps?
log4php: http://logging.apache.org/log4php/