Re: Re-Releasing PEAR packages under the BSD license

On 12/14/06, Terra Frost <terrafrost@gmail.com> wrote:

Justin Patrin wrote: That page doesn't say why and lists 3.0, not 3.01, so I still don't know how/why/whether it would be incompatible. The point is moot, however, due to the rest of my comments in that e-mail. A license does not have to be compatible as long as you're linking code which is licensed in such a way that linking is allowed. This is true of the PHP license, LGPL, BSD, and all other licenses we officially allow for PEAR packages. As I understand it, the fact that you can link to some PHP-licensed code doesn't mean that you can include it in the package's zip file. For example, say ProductName (a product distributed under the GPL license) linked to PHPLicensee (a product distributed under the PHP license). This means that I'd have to download PHPLicensee.zip in addition to ProductName.zip and install both of them separately. Or that I'd have to install PHPLicensee through the PEAR installer and install ProductName.zip separately. Atleast as I understand it.

Yes, there could be a problem with distributing them in the same package. However...

This is, imho, a poor alternative to simply including PHPLicensee in ProductName. The more steps you make the install process take, the more likely you are to annoy your user base and the more likely they are to run into problems. Atleast imho.

pear channel-discover productChannel.com pear install ProductName You want to install ProductName? You also need PHPLicensee. Problem solved. This is what it's for. If this is too much for people you can write a sh/bat which pulls go-pear.phar and installs pear, then sets up your channel and installs your package. Another possibilty, create your own go-pear.phar which includes defaults for the options so that the user doesn't have to enter anything. Have it also auto-discover your channel and install your product. A third possibility, distribute 2 files, as you say above. You're welcome to even alter the code if you need to (say, require calls) as long as it's not distributed in the same package. You could even have PEAR detection/install as part of your product. Yes, all of these slightly complicate distribution, but saying that you can't use PHP Licensed code with a GPL project is false. You just can't distribute them together. -- Justin Patrin