On Fri, 3 Oct 2008, Dan Armbrust wrote:

>>> If Tomcat were under GPL, we wouldn't be using Tomcat.  Simple as 
>>> that.
>>
>> You most likely would, since you are insulated from the tomcat 
>> implementation by the servlet/jsp/jsf/whatver interface specification.
>
> Corporate lawyers don't want to even here the word GPL, much less debate 
> what makes something a derivative work.
>
> In a company large enough to have its own lawyers, just mention the word 
> GPL related to one of your software releases and see what happens :)


I wouldn't expect corporate lawyers to be concerned about my needs or the 
needs of customers.  The whole point of the GPL, it's reason for existing, 
is that corporations produce proprietary software to suit their own needs, 
not the needs of the customer.  The GPL provides rights to the customer 
that corporations usually do not want to provide.  That has changed a 
little in recent years.

If a corporation had to choose between releasing code under GPL or 
releasing it under BSD, they might very well prefer GPL.  BSD is giving it 
away to proprietary competitors, but GPL means that improvements made by 
competitors come back to you (if the competitor distributes the software).

Mike