5 ms·

In fact, it makes it impossible to use in practice. None of the major browsers are GPLv3.

by lucian1900 11y ago

zanny 11y ago
The GPL is compatible with BSD, MPL, and MIT licenses that Firefox / Chromium use. The problem is more that Firefox / Chrome ship proprietary bits like the DRM modules that would violate the linking GPL coverage of flif. And that Chrome is proprietary. Its going to need to be relicensed LGPL to be included.
- snuxoll 11y ago
  > The GPL is compatible with BSD, MPL, and MIT licenses that Firefox / Chromium use. Yes, it is compatible, the other way around. You can take BSD, MPL, MIT code and adopt it into a GPL project, not the other way around. EDIT: Even LGPL won't work here as it will prevent use on Windows Phone, iOS and Android.
  - Someone 11y ago
    If Apple's attributions are correct (1), there is LGPL software on iOS, for example libiconv, and even GPL software (libgcc, libstdc++), but those have linking exceptions. WebKit also is partially LGPL. Possibly not coincidental, the latest LGPL version I could find in the 'legal' section is 2.1. (1) they may be overly cautious, given that they mention the L4 kernel, lua, and Tiny Scheme.
  - awalton 11y ago
    bzzt. LGPL code is everywhere in Android and iOS. There are numerous apps built on GStreamer for both platforms, which is LGPL. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft pulled the pig-headed move though.
    - snuxoll 11y ago
      > LGPL code is everywhere in Android and iOS. You're not going to find LGPLv2.1 or LGPLv3 anywhere in them, however. Starting with LGPLv2.1 you are required to allow the end-user to replace a compiled binary you provided of the LPGL'ed component with their own, something that obviously cannot be guaranteed on any of the mobile platforms I listed. I suppose I should have clarified the version, but it's important to note that the FSF has tried to pull the tivoization card with more than just v3 of their licenses.
- pix64 11y ago
  Firefox doesn't actually ship anything proprietary. DRM module is an optional plugin from Adobe.
TuringTest 11y ago
The Mozilla Public License used by Firefox is compatible with the GPL. Also, if it's a file format and not just a particular library, shouldn't it be possible to reimplement support for it under different licenses on different browsers?
- mark-r 11y ago
  If the only spec is the code, that's going to be prohibitively difficult. There's a warning that the format isn't complete either, and you can expect breaking changes.

In fact, it makes it impossible to use in practice. None of the major browsers are GPLv3.

zanny 11y ago

The GPL is compatible with BSD, MPL, and MIT licenses that Firefox / Chromium use. The problem is more that Firefox / Chrome ship proprietary bits like the DRM modules that would violate the linking GPL coverage of flif. And that Chrome is proprietary. Its going to need to be relicensed LGPL to be included.

snuxoll 11y ago
> The GPL is compatible with BSD, MPL, and MIT licenses that Firefox / Chromium use. Yes, it is compatible, the other way around. You can take BSD, MPL, MIT code and adopt it into a GPL project, not the other way around. EDIT: Even LGPL won't work here as it will prevent use on Windows Phone, iOS and Android.
- Someone 11y ago
  If Apple's attributions are correct (1), there is LGPL software on iOS, for example libiconv, and even GPL software (libgcc, libstdc++), but those have linking exceptions. WebKit also is partially LGPL. Possibly not coincidental, the latest LGPL version I could find in the 'legal' section is 2.1. (1) they may be overly cautious, given that they mention the L4 kernel, lua, and Tiny Scheme.
- awalton 11y ago
  bzzt. LGPL code is everywhere in Android and iOS. There are numerous apps built on GStreamer for both platforms, which is LGPL. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft pulled the pig-headed move though.
  - snuxoll 11y ago
    > LGPL code is everywhere in Android and iOS. You're not going to find LGPLv2.1 or LGPLv3 anywhere in them, however. Starting with LGPLv2.1 you are required to allow the end-user to replace a compiled binary you provided of the LPGL'ed component with their own, something that obviously cannot be guaranteed on any of the mobile platforms I listed. I suppose I should have clarified the version, but it's important to note that the FSF has tried to pull the tivoization card with more than just v3 of their licenses.
pix64 11y ago
Firefox doesn't actually ship anything proprietary. DRM module is an optional plugin from Adobe.

TuringTest 11y ago

The Mozilla Public License used by Firefox is compatible with the GPL. Also, if it's a file format and not just a particular library, shouldn't it be possible to reimplement support for it under different licenses on different browsers?

mark-r 11y ago
If the only spec is the code, that's going to be prohibitively difficult. There's a warning that the format isn't complete either, and you can expect breaking changes.