Re: org.omg link on Classpath homepage

[Brian Jones]

Stuart Ballard <address@hidden> writes:

> There is a link to http://www.omg.org/ on Classpath's homepage,
> referencing it as a "provider for free core packages" for the org.omg
> packages. I have a few questions about this:
> 
> 1) I can't actually find any downloadable implementation of the
> org.omg packages in the omg site. It might be helpful to provide a
> more direct link to exactly where the code can be found.

They are on the ftp site, probably not obvious.

>    b) If they are free but aren't GPL-compatible, shouldn't there be a
> prominent warning because (if I understand the issues correctly) that
> would make anything that's simultaneously a derived work of Classpath
> and the org.omg packages completely unredistributable?

Basically they will never be free to modify because the entire point
of the OMG standard is these interfaces DO NOT CHANGE or change only
as the standard evolves at the whim of the standards body.  The GPL
doesn't allow compatibility with licenses that do not permit
modification.

All of that said, I pursued getting the OMG responsible people to
change the license and I think they saw why we needed this and at
least in some sense were sympathetic but the overriding concern is
that of interoperability and hence there was no change.  It doesn't
mean that going back to them now couldn't change the appropriate minds
just that I didn't get very far except that it was on the agenda for
one of the quarterly meetings as far as I know and I never got another
response.

Brian
-- 
Brian Jones <address@hidden>