Re: Berkeley DB license

At 09:46 AM 5/17/00 +1000, you wrote:

> What if I am an evil software
> empire who takes postgresql, renames it, cuts out most of the
> non-sleepycat code and starts competing with sleepycat?

We make zero dollars in the SQL market today, so I'm not risking
anything by promoting this project. Our embedded engine is a very
different product from your object/relational client/server engine.
I'm not worried about competition from you guys or from derivatives.
It's just not my market.

I'd really like to see PostgreSQL go head-to-head with the established
proprietary vendors of relational systems. I believe Berkeley DB will
help. If you use it and if you're successful, then I get to brag to
all my customers in the embedded market about the number of installed
sites I have worldwide.

> Or what if I am
> just some company who wants to make proprietry use of sleepycat but
> don't want to pay the fee?

We've done these licenses pretty often for other groups. Gnome is an
example that was mentioned recently. We do two things:

+ Define the embedding application with reasonable precision; and

+ Explicitly state that the embedding application may not surface
our interfaces directly to third parties.

The first bullet keeps bad guys from using the trick you identify.
The second keeps bad guys from helping their friends use the trick.

If we decide we decide that the integration is a good idea, we'll
draft a letter and you can get it reviewed by your attorney. I don't
know whether PostgreSQL.org has a lawyer, but if not, Great Bridge
will probably loan you one. We'll work with you to be sure that the
language is right.

I don't want to minimize concern on this point. Certainly the
agreement granting PostgreSQL these rights will require some care.
But that's what I do for a living, and I can assure you that you'll
get a letter that's fair and that lives up to the promises we've
made to the list. I don't want to get hung up on the legal issues.
Those are tractable. It's more important to me to know whether
there's a reasonable technical fit.

mike