| 2007-03-04 09:58:12 |
Conrad Knauer |
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Binary package hint: mono
I am sad to report that it has come to my attention in the wake of the Novell-Microsoft agreement that Mono is likely patent encumbered and thus non-free for Ubuntu purposes. Please see http://www.gnome.org/~seth/blog/mono (article "Why Mono is Currently An Unacceptable Risk")
As per section 7 of the GPL, http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
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If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.
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If this is correct, Mono should thus be moved into multiverse with Mplayer, etc. |
In the wake of the Microsoft-Novell deal, it initially appeared that Mono infringed on unspecified Microsoft patents (see original bug description). It appears more likely now to just be Microsoft FUD.
The Mono Project's FAQ states:
"For Linux server and desktop development, we only need the ECMA components" for which "Basically a grant is given to anyone who want to implement those components for free and for any purpose."
http://www.mono-project.com/FAQ:_Licensing
A legal review by Canonical would probably be a good idea however. |
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