RE: [Access-activists] New member with a big project

[Jason Self]

Jamal Mazrui wrote...

> What does it mean for a license to be "incompatible" with the GPL?

>From the FAQ at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html which should be 
helpful in understanding:

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatIsCompatible
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatDoesCompatMean

> How can a developer know that a project retains GPL compatibility?  I
> thought it was by checking the discussion of specific licenses at
> > http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html

I think that's a good place to go for license compatibility information.

> I thought that list is based on an application of the relevant freedom
> principles.  

It's a little bit of both: It documents both free and non-free software 
licenses, but if you'll notice, the free software licenses are broken down into 
GPL-compatible ones and GPL-incompatible ones.

The GPL is used by lots of free software programs so maintaining compatibility 
with it is generally a good thing in my opinion, but just because a license 
isn't compatible with the GPL doesn't automatically mean it's non-free. Whether 
it's a free software license or not depends on what the license says.