MapGuide fork of AGG

[Dave McIlhagga]

Good summary Frank.


I realize this is a bit of a tangent from the original discussion --  
but does anyone have an idea of where the line is vis-a-vis PostGIS  
since it too is GPL? ie. if a proprietary solution built with  
MapScript is distributed built on MapServer today AND PostGIS --  
would that be in violation of the license?

Dave



On 24-Oct-07, at 10:58 AM, Frank Warmerdam wrote:

> Dave McIlhagga wrote:
>> Ok - let me rephrase that. Does that mean when distributing  
>> MapServer with AGG 2.5, in that instance all of that code  
>> (including the MapServer source code) would have to be distributed  
>> via a GPL license.
>
> Dave,
>
> If one distributes MapServer linked with a GPL AGG I *think* you are
> required to provide MapServer under GPL terms.  Because there is no
> one contributor who has rights to alter MapServer licensing terms I
> believe the distributor would be in violation of the AGG GPL terms.
>
>> Does that also then mean that any users who are bundling MapServer  
>> today in proprietary solutions could not do so with this build?
>
> There is some ambiguity as you "move up the stack" as to whether
> the GPL terms still apply.  For instance, a web front end that
> involved a GPL AGG enabled MapServer via http/wms would likely be
> ok.  But arguable a MapScript application would have to be
> distributed under GPL.
>
>> Does this mean that if other 3rd party proprietary components are  
>> included in a distributed build that they too would be subject to  
>> availability via GPL?
>
> If they are considered to be linked with AGG, and if they
> redistribute them, then yes.
>
>> If the above are true - I can think of a few pretty significant  
>> instances where this decision could be pretty big problems.
>
> This is my conclusion.
>
> While end users who don't redistribute their binaries (including
> those providing proprietary web based services) should be ok, anyone
> who has to distribute software needs to think very carefully before
> distributing GPL AGG enabled binaries.
>
> We could request some specific legal advice on this topic, but  
> think it
> is clear that MapServer needs a non-GPL AGG fork that can be dropped
> in and used for distributors even if lags the mainstream AGG.
>
> Best regards,
> -- 
> --------------------------------------- 
> +--------------------------------------
> I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam,  
> warmerdam at pobox.com
> light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
> and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http:// 
> osgeo.org