Re: [PATCHES] [0/4] Proposal of SE-PostgreSQL patches

Joshua D. Drake wrote:
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> On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:41:42 +0900
> KaiGai Kohei <kaigai@ak.jp.nec.com> wrote:
> 
>>> GPL is a perfectly good license, but it's far from clear whether
>>> code derived from it can be incorporated into PostgreSQL even if
>>> you wrote all of it yourself.  I just checked libselinux, and as
>>> you say it includes a LICENSE file that states "This library
>>> (libselinux) is public domain software, i.e. not copyrighted.".
>>> That's good, but a similar independant review will need to happen
>>> for every component you interact with here, on top of a technical
>>> review.  Luckily this is something a lot of people would like and
>>> that should all get taken care of.
>> SE-PostgreSQL internally uses libselinux, glibc and PostgreSQL
>> internal APIs like SearchSysCache().
>> I'm not a lawyer, but I believe they cannot enforce us to apply a
>> specific lisence. So, I clearly say SE-PostgreSQL feature is licensed
>> with the same one of PostgreSQL.
>> No need to say, more conprehensive checks and reviews are welcome.
> 
> Hmmm,
> 
> Everything that I read says that libselinux is GPL. That could present
> a problem for anyone that wants to use the BSD features of
> PostgreSQL :).

It is incorrect.
SELinux is indeed GPL because it is a part of kernel feature.
But libselinux is a public domain software, as follows:
https://selinux.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/selinux/trunk/libselinux/LICENSE

SE-PostgreSQL is linked with *ONLY* libselinux. It communicate to SELinux
via system call. As you know, GPL does not consider invokation of system calls
as a "link". Thus, we can release SE-PostgreSQL as a BSD licensed software.

Thanks,

> I can check with SFLC if people are really curious.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Joshua D. Drake
-- 
OSS Platform Development Division, NEC
KaiGai Kohei <kaigai@ak.jp.nec.com>