The Apache license isn't compatible with GPLv2.
Isn't it possible to take a standard patent clause and add it to their UIUC/MIT licenses? Google has done something similar with Go, using BSD + their own patent grant.[1]
Isn't it possible to take a standard patent clause and add it to their UIUC/MIT licenses? Google has done something similar with Go, using BSD + their own patent grant.[1]
B. I wrote that patent clause ;) The patent clause is one-way, and works in part because Go collects CLA's that grant google and contributors other patent rights.
So using such a license basically has the CLA option as a pre-requisite.
[1] (interestingly, at least to me, this incompatibility this raises weird issues around doing things like using older gplv2 gcc's with newer gcc runtime libraries. The gcc runtimes require gpl compatible software as part of the exception, and define gpl compatible in a way that seems to exclude gplv2 ;P)
It's funny that the liability clause seems pretty similar to that found in GPLv2.
"8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor has been advised of the possibility of such damages."
Compare it to ISC's disclaimer:
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
The intent is that I provide code and I'm not held liable if you use it irresponsibly or recklessly. Whatever current laws are, licenses can be tested in some local court and found invalid, but laws change and not all courts rule the same on a Tuesday. Therefore a license should state intent and not encode a certain market's laws from a certain year.
Patents are a special case because of the racketeering going on. Like copyright, the patent system was meant to foster more published work and not as a money making and extortion mechanism. There's a reason why places without concern for copyright or patents are more innovative. In that sense the liberal licenses encourage use in all situations by anybody because they want it to be used rather than restrict who's allowed to use it in what way.
The real problem is that there is no software safety or quality standard which can be measured and tested like for everyday items such as knives or power tools and won't exist for the immediate future. But that doesn't mean we should include disclaimers that hold you liable if somebody deletes their backups with your implementation of /bin/rm.
The interesting question then is if you need and want GPLv2 and Apache License 2.0 because they explicitly claim liability, does that mean you cannot use OpenSSH, OpenSSL or FreeBSD? Wouldn't you in that case be using an "illegal" tool like medicine from another continent?
Again, what about the illegality of using a BSD/MIT licensed piece of software if you require GPL/Apache style liability?
The same problem might exist with other patent clauses, though - is the Go one compatible with GPLv2?
Because the kernel is GPLv2 only, you also can't embed the GCC JIT, as it's GPLv3.
So essentially, you are screwed along multiple axes
"but perhaps someday there will be a use for a JIT in the kernel, that we can't foresee."
Maybe, but you can't solve every use case on one side.
(IE it may be that the kernel may have to have some licensing movement as well)
In any case, there are other compilers which would remain license compatible with the GPL2, so should the kernel ever need one it could still have one, I guess it just wouldn't be LLVM or GCC.
Surely, but as you can imagine, the LLVM community needs to figure out whether this is a use case they care about (it was raised in that discussion, and i think the consensus so far has been "not really")
Edit: see the last paragraph in this email: http://lists.llvm.org/pipermail/llvm-dev/2015-October/091636...
That seems potentially fixable, if they're changing the license anyway. Apache with an exception for linking to GPLv2 could work.
> Isn't it possible to take a standard patent clause and add it to their UIUC/MIT licenses?
Writing a new license is almost always a bad idea, and if they did write such a license, it should go to OSI and FSF for review first.