Nedjo Rogers wrote:
Since the details and reason for this policy seem worthy of capturing for posterity, I've drafted a brief handbook page, http://drupal.org/node/66113.
A small addendum. The LGPL permits the relicensing of any single copy of an LGPL library from LGPL to GPL (article 3 of the LGPL, http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html). In three cases in the Javascript Tools package (jscalendar, wforms, columns) I have relicensed LGPL libraries to GPL and included them in CVS. Other modules using LGPL code, e.g., TinyMCE, presumably could choose to do the same. This practice is in full compliance with the GPL. I assume it's also in full compliance with Drupal CVS policies, as the software in CVS has only one license, the GPL.
If there are any issues with this approach, please speak up! Otherwise, I'll add a note on this to the Handbook page.
I am ok with the relicensing (but I know that Dries doesn't really like it), but what I am not ok with is that you included third party software in our cvs. This is generally not a good idea because people might not get the most recent version of the software that is available from the original author. It also bloats our cvs which already has more than half a GB. I know that this way of handling third party software has been used (and even occassionally enforced) for a long time, but I actually couldn't find it in the Terms or the FAQ. Could somebody write me a nice paragraph about it? Cheers, Gerhard