Non GPL Python MySQL Client Library.

[Daniel Dittmar]

Ville Vainio wrote:
> <ville at spammers.com>     Lothar> wrote:
>     Lothar> lawyers. MySQL AB defines a socket communication as
>     Lothar> linking. Just to forbid things like this, but on the other
>     Lothar> hand they put there product under the GPL and the GPL does
>     Lothar> not define this as linking.
>
> Yes - MySQL AB could as well define that playing Quake on the machine
> that is running mysql client libraries is linking. Such definitions
> might apply with their proprietary license (which they can write any
> way to want), but they can't touch GPL :-).

The GPL only talks about 'derived' work. The FAQ
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#TOCMereAggregation says that
communication via pipes or sockets hint that two separate programs are
involved. But (quote) """if the semantics of the communication are intimate
enough, exchanging complex internal data structures, that too could be a
basis to consider the two parts as combined into a larger program."""

So the interpretation of the GPL by MySQL AB is not inconsistent with the
GPL or the GPL FAQ.

Daniel