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OpenJDK isn't "pure" GPL, it's GPL with the classpath exception making it more like LGPL.
by jabl 6y ago
OpenJDK isn't "pure" GPL, it's GPL with the classpath exception making it more like LGPL.
- vvillena 6y agoAFAIK the classpath exception is intended to make the ecosystem work in a similar way to how GPL system libraries interface with non-GPL C code. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
- jabl 6y agoWell, presumably you mean LGPL system libraries like glibc etc., but yes, I understand that is roughly the idea. I think they came up with GPL + classpath exception instead of adopting LGPL because LGPL has all this language about static vs. dynamic linking etc. that is rooted in the C world and not how Java does things.
- mumblemumble 6y agoMy company's legal team is fine with GPL + classpath exception, but skittish about LGPL. It had never really occurred to me that that might be the reason why. Perhaps the problem is that the LGPL's C-centric language means that trying to use it as a general-purpose library for any platform, including ones that don't work like C, puts it in murkier legal waters.