re: GPL compatibility clause question

[Luis Villa]

On 11/4/10 7:57 AM, Peter Rock wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Is there any essential difference between MPL 1.1 section 13 and the
> proposed section 11.2 in MPL 2 alpha 3?

Yes. MPL 1.1 Section 13 allows a recipient to redistribute under any of
the compatible licenses, without any conditions.

MPL 2 Alpha 3 Section 11.2 changes the license to make the requirements
better map to the expectations and goals of copyleft dual-licensors,
preserving the original copyleft to the greatest extent possible while
still allowing good-faith combination with GPL projects when that is
necessary.

The first change is that to take advantage of the additional license
permission, the recipient of MPL-licensed code is required to combine
the MPL-licensed code with an existing (L)GPL-licensed codebase. Simply
taking MPL code and converting it to GPL is not permitted.

Second, the recipient of MPL-licensed code must still redistribute in
compliance with the terms of the MPL; they are *also* allowed to
distribute under the (L)GPL. A recipient further downstream can then use
the code purely under (L)GPL, as required by those licenses.

This language was developed in close consultation with FSF and SFLC.

Hope that answers the question, Peter-
Luis

--
Luis Villa, Mozilla Legal
work email: lvi...@mozilla.com (preferred)
work phone: 650-903-0800 x327
personal: http://tieguy.org/about/

[Peter Rock]

Thanks very much, Luis. This is a comprehensive and useful response.
Much appreciated.

On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 2:08 AM, Luis Villa <lvi...@mozilla.com> wrote:
> On 11/4/10 7:57 AM, Peter Rock wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Is there any essential difference between MPL 1.1 section 13 and the
>> proposed section 11.2 in MPL 2 alpha 3?
>

> Yes. MPL 1.1 Section 13 allows a recipient to ...