Remote database access: How?

[Jan Schenkel]

Okay, On-Rev connects to a MySQL 5.0 database - so can any Rev client, as long as the passwords setting is compatible; so my guess is that the On-Rev team was nice enough to configure everything correctly for us :-)

The MySQL Connector/C++ is licensed under the terms of GPL:
<http://forge.mysql.com/wiki/Connector_C++>
GPL is "viral" in the sense that anything that touches GPL code must also become GPL - I don't make that up, it's part of the original license:
<http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html>
Whether or not said wrapping constitutes touching, is something I'll leave up to the lawyers and judges. The Free Software Foundation isn't writing the license terms for shits and giggles - they want to ensure that free software remains free.

Note that I have no problems with open source software, nor do I see such software as a minefield. All I said was that the open source _licensing terms_ can be a minefield.
BSD-style licenses are straightforward, and so are Apache-style licenses. Things do get tricky with GPL and LGPL, and there's plenty of room for discussion. And I'd much rather not have Richard Matthew Stallman as my opponent in a courtroom.

Jan Schenkel
=====
Quartam Reports & PDF Library for Revolution
<http://www.quartam.com>

=====
"As we grow older, we grow both wiser and more foolish at the same time."  (La Rochefoucauld)


--- On Tue, 6/9/09, Björnke von Gierke <bvg at mac.com> wrote:

> From: Björnke von Gierke <bvg at mac.com>
> Subject: Re: Remote database access: How?
> To: "How to use Revolution" <use-revolution at lists.runrev.com>
> Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 7:36 AM
> On 9 Jun 2009, at 16:16, Jan Schenkel
> wrote:
> > There's a difference between the MySQL Database engine
> and the Connector library that allows C-programs to talk to
> the database. The RevDB driver for MySQL is is a wrapper
> around said Connector.
> 
> Yes, but on-rev obviously does connect to said 5.0.1
> database. I did not confuse the difference, but falsely
> assumed that this fact is clear to you: on-rev scripting is
> able to connect to mysql 5.0.1.
> 
> > You should also not confuse GPL and LGPL.
> 
> Note that I do know about lgpl and the differences.
> 
> > GPL is more strict, and anything it 'touches' must
> also become GPL. Whether this is enforcable in court, or
> not, is something else - but open source licensing is enough
> of a minefield not to take any chances.
> 
> The "touching" is exactly the problem here. Namely what
> constitutes touching, and what not? In my view, making an
> external wrapper around the gpl mysql libraries would mean
> _for sure_ that said wrapper would need to be gpl.
> 
> However a rev standalone that _calls_ said wrapper (even
> when sharing data structure) is not obliged to. Thus the
> link to the wikipedia entries subsection, which does mention
> exactly such a connection is disputed, and not yet enforced
> either way.
> 
> I also object to the connection "opensource" = "minefield".
> the worst that could happen would be that runrev would need
> to _cease_ distributing the disputed code, basically not
> supporting, updating and shipping the mysql external
> anymore. Furthermore, although that'd be certainly
> unpleasant, I can't imagine it happening. Why would any open
> source or mysql advocate actually want rev to cease the
> support of mysql?
> 
> Still having non lawyer fun
> Björnke
> 
>