ember contains GPL-incompatible non-free code

[Stephen M. Webb]

The source in the file OgrePagingLandScapeCallback.h is a direct copy (complete with authors and a link to the original source) of the FastDelegate class found at http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/7150/Member-Function-Pointers-and-the-Fastest-Possible, which is clearly and unambiguously licensed under the CPOL license, which is not a free software license license and can not be combined with software distributed under the GPL (see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#cpol).

The use of the FastDelegate software could, with a little work, be replaced by boost::function (already used elsewhere in the ember codebase) or by std::tr1::function or std::function where available.

Ember can not be distributed under Debian or Debian-based GNU/Linux distributions as long as it contains this GPL-incompatible code.

[Erik Ogenvik (erik-ogenvik)]

It's actually licensed under two licenses: the CPOL as specified at the bottom (seems to be boilerplate) and Public Domain as specified in the "License" part of the article.
The exact wording is: "The source code attached to this article is released into the public domain. You may use it for any purpose."

Do you think that's enough for Debian Legal?

[Stephen M. Webb (bregma)]

On 04/09/2012 03:25 PM, Erik Ogenvik wrote:
> It's actually licensed under two licenses: the CPOL as specified at the bottom (seems to be boilerplate) and Public Domain as specified in the "License" part of the article.
> The exact wording is: "The source code attached to this article is released into the public domain. You may use it for any purpose."
>
> Do you think that's enough for Debian Legal?

I do not believe so.

"Public Domain" is a statement of who has copyright, not a distribution license.

It is next to impossible to actually put something into the public domain in most of the world. See
http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2010/08/msg00005.html. There may be procedures in some countries for the author
to take legal steps to release the copyright of his work into the public domain, but there is no evidence in this case
that the author has done so. Simply making a statement to the effect in an online article is not enough for the author
to have formally relinquished his natural rights. He continues to hold copyright regardless, and all the evidence is
that it is distributed under the The Code Project Open License, which is considered non-free by the FSF and incompatible
with the Gnu Public License.

--
Stephen M. Webb <email address hidden>
https://launchpad.net/~bregma

[Erik Ogenvik (erik-ogenvik)]

The author refers to "Public Domain" as a license, which as you point out is incorrect. However, it's very clear from his wording what his intentions are. I'm guessing that it's not enough for Debian Legal though.
I'll contact him and ask for a clarification regarding any extra license that he could agree to.

[Erik Ogenvik (erik-ogenvik)]

An update on this. I've gotten a verbal confirmation from the author of the code that he agrees to providing it under a FOSS-compatible license: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/7150/Member-Function-Pointers-and-the-Fastest-Possible?msg=4217453#xx4217453xx
He haven't yet performed the necessary changes to the wording which would be required. This issue is open (and prevents any further releases) until the licensing has been changed.

[Erik Ogenvik (erik-ogenvik)]

While the author expressed his willingness to license it under another license, he never got back to me. In the end I switched it to using sigc++.