[Python-Dev] Incorporating bsddb3 (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido@python.org
Wed, 30 Oct 2002 10:31:32 -0500

> What's the license on the BerkeleyDB code from Sleepycat?

There are two licenses: One that they call the "open source license", see http://www.sleepycat.com/license.net There is also a commercial license. > Can we legally distribute RPMs or other binaries containing it? (I > thought there were some restrictions that make it not open source.) It depends. This is the condition: # Redistributions in any form must be accompanied by information on # how to obtain complete source code for the DB software and any # accompanying software that uses the DB software. The source code # must either be included in the distribution or be available for no # more than the cost of distribution plus a nominal fee, and must be # freely redistributable under reasonable conditions. So distributing Python itself should be no problem.

It's similar to GPL's "copyleft". I think it's no different from what we do with e.g. GNU readline, so I think it's okay. Redistributors of Python in binary form will have to beware though. I wonder if we're on thin ice with the RPMs (since we don't clarify any of this)?

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)