[sclug] Janino, Maven, and the LGPL

[Simon Heywood]

On Tue, Nov 30, 2004 at 01:36:33PM +0000, Paul Weaver wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 30, 2004 at 12:06:07PM +0000, Simon Heywood wrote:
> > According to my understanding of section 4 of the LGPL, the source code
> > for Janino should accompany the binary JAR file. However, I can't find
> > the corresponding source anywhere on ibiblio.org. This means that I
> > can't redistribute Janino myself.
> IANAL, YMMV, etc. I believe the source code does not need
> to be distributed with the program, only the offer of source code. If
> you ask the distributer for the code, they must send it (although may
> charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of providing the CD and
> postage)

I suspected that this clause might be relevant. Of course, IANAL
either....

> Note that althoug having source code in the same place as the object
> code satisfies the "distribution of source" clause, it's not
> neccersary, as long as a writen invitation is given. Has it been?

Not as far as I can tell. I merely followed a link from another site to
the Janino directory in ibiblio.org's Maven repository. The copy of the
LGPL in itself doesn't constitute an offer to provide the source, and I
can't find it anywhere on that site.

> Ultimatly, just ask the distributer for the source, in 90% of these
> cases it's just a SNAFU they're happy to rectify. 

Yeah. I'll probably chase this up with ibiblio.org since (as Alex said)
they're distributing it to me. After all, if this is a general problem
with Maven, then I should bring it to the attention of the relevant
people.

S.