Revisiting the PHP binding license issues

[Yannick Warnier]

Le vendredi 26 juillet 2019 à 14:01 +0100, Peter Bowyer a écrit :
> Hello,
> 
> I would like to see Xapian used more widely in the PHP community.

I would like that too. We recently removed a Xapian searching feature
from our Free Software because it required a process too complex for
most of our users to install it (and update it) on their servers.

[...]

> The GPL FAQ says at
> https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLIncompatibleLibs that
> there is scope for adding exceptions when building against
> incompatible libraries.
> 
> Given that only the PHP bindings compile against the PHP licensed
> headers, can the PHP bindings alone:
> a) be relicensed under GPLv3, and grant an additional permission
> under section 7?
> b) remain GPLv2 and add a specific exception?
> 
> If so, this would allow Xapian to remain GPLv2+ licenced, and yet the
> PHP bindings to be distributed pre-compiled.

My 2 cents: I think it would make sense for Olly (the project
founder/leader/maintainer) to ask the Free Software Foundation
directly, if that wasn't done before. They are the top experts on the
subject and have legal advisors for that.

Your explanation seems to sum it up quite well, and contact information
about licensing is here: https://www.fsf.org/licensing/contact
(although it seems more focused on finding licensing violations, I'm pretty sure this is the best contact point).

Cheers,

Yannick