[openssl-dev] We're working on license changes

[Jonathan Larmour]

On 20/11/15 20:48, Salz, Rich wrote:
>> Is there a possibility of releasing it under more than one license?
> 
> Highly doubtful, at least not at first.
> 
>> Otherwise, I honestly don't really see the point of relicensing
>> OpenSSL as moving to apache v2 does not resolve the primary problem
>> with the OpenSSL license that currently exists.
> 
> Yes it does:  the "advertising" clause and being a non-standard
> license.  If you think the primary problem is GPL, well we disagree.
> And also, see this:
> http://www.apache.org/licenses/GPL-compatibility.html

Although it's not compatible with GPLv2. Not everyone likes, or uses, or
_can_ use GPLv3. And there's plenty of GPLv2 users (of which I am one) to
prove the point:
https://www.blackducksoftware.com/resources/data/top-20-open-source-licenses

So a dual license still seems desirable to me.

However, also, and as I said when this came up before, I don't believe the
OpenSSL team is legally permitted to change the license as they do not
hold the entire copyright. To change the licence, you need a copyright
assignment or Contributor License Agreement from every individual or
company who has contributed code to OpenSSL. You cannot change the terms
of something you do not own. That is admittedly a significant hurdle to
any change.

Jifl
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