[KDE/Mac] Binary distribution license check

[Ian Wadham]

On 13/04/2014, at 8:36 AM, mk-lists at email.de wrote:
> perhaps this is the wrong list for such a question, but let’s start here first...
> 
> When I check on MacPorts for a typical KDE application whether it is binary distributable, e.g. for KMyMoney, I get something like this:
> —
> "git-core" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "p5.16-net-ssleay" is not distributable because its license "OpenSSL" conflicts with license "GPL-3+" of dependency "gdbm"
> "soprano" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "gtk-doc" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "itstool" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "virtuoso" is not distributable because its license "GPL" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "virtuoso-7" is not distributable because its license "GPL" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "ImageMagick" is not distributable because its license "apache" conflicts with license "GPL-2" of dependency "libpaper"
> "ghostscript" is not distributable because its license "agpl" conflicts with license "GPL-2" of dependency "libpaper"
> "dbusmenu-qt" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "mysql5" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "poppler-qt4-mac" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "poppler" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl"
> "gnupg" is not distributable because its license "gpl" conflicts with license "OpenSSL" of dependency "openssl”
> —
> i.e. 14 ports which must be build by the user due to conflicting licenses, mostly due to OpenSSL.
> 
> I am curious on how typical Linux distributions actually handle these cases.

Perhaps you could ask Mario for some contacts of KDE *core* developers[1] who
also do work for Linux distros.  The OpenSuSE distro would be a good hit.  IIRC
it has a lot of links with the KDE community and the KDE core developers.  Debian
would be another good hit.

I know there *are* some, because it was remarked a month or so ago on kde-devel
that the KDE community relies on such people to find and solve any downstream
problems that may occur.  This is a piece of serendipity we do not currently enjoy
in MacPorts (i.e. we do not have any *core* KDE developers working on Apple OS X
and MacPorts).  If we did, we would not have as many problems as we do.  But I
believe they do have some core KDE developers in the KDE Windows group.  

Also I know of a core developer who does work on OpenBSD porting and also on
the KDE build systems, but I am not sure if OpenBSD is source-only or binary.

Cheers, Ian W.

P.S.
Several of the dependencies in the list above are from the well known
Nepomuk chain.  When we eliminate that chain, some of the problems will
go away, but you would still be left with the last five items at least, which are
used by such things as KDE PIM software.

[1]
KDE core developers work on libraries, build systems, tools, utilities, etc.
They have a general mailing list called kde-core-devel (like kde-devel but
for core developers) and also several specialised lists.