Re: MySQL JDBC driver - implications for non-GPLed apps

From: Paul Schmidt (wogsterca_at_yahoo.ca)
Date: 05/12/04 

Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 10:51:03 -0400

Alex Molochnikov wrote:
> I cannot get an answer to a seemingly simple question: what happens to a
> closed-sourced application that makes use of the GPLed MySQL JDBC driver?
>
> Here I am talking about using the driver "as is", without altering it in any
> way.
>
> The application in question is our Report Generator that currently supports
> 5 databases; none of their JDBC drivers requiring it to become an
> open-soruced code. So, it seems inconceivable to me that adding support for
> another database by using its driver makes the entire application a "derived
> work" of the database #6. And yet, this is what the GPL clause seems to
> imply.
>
> Can anyone clarify this to me? And while I am at it, what about distributing
> ("aggregating") MySQL driver with the commercial apps instead of instructing
> the users to download the driver separately from MySQL website and then copy
> it into the proper location in the classpath?

You want to stay as far away from the driver as possible, without
eliminating the possibility. You have no control over what database and
driver a particular user wants to implement. Two things to keep in mind:

When in doubt on a legal matter, seek legal advice, if you have a IP
lawyer available, send him a copy of the GPL, and ask for his
professional opinion on how this applies. You don't call a carpenter to
fix your plumbing, you call a plumber.

Contact MySQL and see if you can licence the database and driver without
using the GPL version. One of the nice things about the GPL is that it
allows the original vendor to also licence the software in other ways.
However then you look at it, is the value of the driver and database
worth the licencing cost. The higher the cost, the more likely they are
to seek retribution if you use a GPL version in a unusual way,

Paul

>
> We are at a crossroads on this issue; if adding support to MySQL means that
> we have to change the status of our entire project, then I guess we will
> just have to do without MySQL.
>
> Thanks for any info.
>
> Alex Molochnikov
> Gestalt Corporation
> www.gestalt.com
>
>

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Which MySQL Provider.
    ... Read the GPL, ... The GPL isn't different for this particular provider. ... We wanted to target Mysql in our o/r mapper. ... for their database. ...
    (microsoft.public.dotnet.languages.csharp)
  • Re: Some free utilities for Java, with Hebrew support.
    ... here have GPL implementations and thus can hardly be called "closed". ... primary business model for the MySQL company. ... And my original question still stands -- who buys database clients, ... see a) vendors making database servers and client libraries and b) ...
    (comp.lang.java.programmer)
  • Re: resultset is an iterator?
    ... >> done by the JDBC driver and the database backend. ... >> drag it all into memory but I have noticed that MySQL seems to do this. ... ResultSets are completely retrieved and stored in memory. ...
    (comp.lang.java.databases)
  • Re: MySQL JDBC driver - implications for non-GPLed apps
    ... tool that produces reports from the content of the existing database. ... > legitimate to interact with MySQL JDBC drivers via the JDBC interface. ... > GPL license on the driver. ... the application must identify the JDBC driver by its name. ...
    (comp.lang.java.databases)
  • Re: MySQL JDBC driver - implications for non-GPLed apps
    ... >> driver a particular user wants to implement. ... MySQL AB does not purport to be our ... > care to provide a clear-cut explanation as part of their license agreement. ... >> However then you look at it, is the value of the driver and database ...
    (comp.lang.java.databases)