[I18n-sig] Codec licenses

[Guido van Rossum]

> > Hi everybody,
> > 
> > scanning through the CVS archive of the SourceForge python-codecs
> > project I found that most codec packages were placed under the GPL
> > for some reason. This makes the codecs unusable for software which
> > isn't GPL compatible and limits its usefulness considerably.
> > 
> > Please consider either moving to the LGPL which does not have the
> > GPL problems (other software relying on it will need to be shipped
> > under the GPL too), but still assures that your code remains freely
> > available or one of the Python licenses (preferrably the
> > old CWI one).
> 
> I haven't received any comment on the above so far. 
> 
> Should I take this as rejection of the proposal ? This would be sad
> and probably cause rewrites for most of the codecs in order to make 
> them useful in closed-source software projects too.

If it helps, I'd certainly prefer the LGPL over the GPL.  Of course my
favorite license is the *old* Python license:

    http://www.python.org/doc/Copyright.html

Another good one is the (current) BSD license:

    http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.html

But maybe you could approach those people who have chosen the GPL
directly, and explain to them why you prefer something other than the
GPL, as long as it's Open Source?

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