Few really new features in AOO (incubating) means nothing [LWN.net]

Few really new features in AOO (incubating) means nothing

Posted Apr 28, 2012 15:25 UTC (Sat) by drag (subscriber, #31333)
In reply to: Few really new features in AOO (incubating) means nothing by cesarb
Parent article: Meeks: A LibreOffice/Apache OpenOffice Comparison

> That policy is no fault of AOO; as far as I have heard, it has been Apache policy for a long time.

Yes: This is a not a unusual issue that crops up with all Apache projects. They are very strict on the licenses they are willing to accept or re-license to.

> If we were trying to place blame, the fault would lie with the ones who chose to drop the giant ball of code in Apache's lap, knowing fully that it would mean creating a need to purge parts of that code.

This seems like a inappropriate project for Apache to take on, then. Just because the ball was thrown at them doesn't mean that they are obligated to run with it. Maybe the devs on the Apache project would better serve themselves by placing their contributions under the auspices of the Libre project.

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That's not strict, that's rigid

Posted Apr 28, 2012 20:15 UTC (Sat) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link]

> They are very strict

Sounds more rigid than strict.

If a policy blocks the goal, the policy should be discussed. (That's assuming that the goal of AOO is to improve the free software options available to users of office suites.)

Take RMS for example. No one doubts that software freedom is his goal. He has policies about using GNU licences and GNU contributors assigning copyright, but in limited circumstances he recommends non-GNU licences and accepts code into GNU packages without copyright assignments. He puts the goal ahead of rigidly following policy.

Before AOO, there was little worry about the motivations within the Apache project. But there are also no illusions about the motivations of Oracle Corp and IBM. Each has a lot of influence in AOO. If a decision is bad for software freedom but good for Oracle or IBM, and the decision is supported by rigidly following a policy, then "we're really strict" can be a convenient fig leaf.