ASL 2.0 based software contribution to FreeBSD code base

[Robert Watson]

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009, Saifi Khan wrote:

> On Wed, 11 Mar 2009, David Schultz wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Mar 12, 2009, Saifi Khan wrote:
>>> Is there anything specified in the FreeBSD project, that would prohibit 
>>> ASL 2.0 licensed device drivers from being used in the OS ?
>>
>> No, but core@ would have to approve it. I presume their decision would take 
>> into consideration technical justification, terms of the license, and how 
>> the proposed code interacts with other components in the base system.
>
> Great ! Thats very encouraging. Thanks Dave.
>
> System code (drivers included) released under standard ASL 2.0 license 
> should work.

If you submit components under the ASL license, they will not be accepted back 
into the base tree without the involvement of the FreeBSD Foundation lawyers 
and an administrative decision involving the core team.  This is expensive and 
time-consuming (generally a multi-month process to approve new licenses), and 
we would really all rather you didn't put us in the position of having to 
choose between adopting your software and saving a lot of time and money.  If 
you can use a BSD license, please do.

Robert N M Watson
Computer Laboratory
University of Cambridge