FSF defines LGPL as "Viral" for Java

A RECENT ENTRY at GMANE.org POI-developers list quotes Free Software Foundation's Dave Turner (the man behind licensing at fsf.org) in an admission that LGPL code is "viral" in Java, meaning any classes which import an LGPL library must also be licensed as LGPL code.

Apparently Apache was right.

Andrew Oliver: "Brett Smith referred me to you regarding a question regarding the Lesser Gnu Public License (LGPL) in regards to Java. It is the interpretation of most of the open/free software communities that the use of a "jar" file by a piece of software linked via a Java "import" statement does not bind the linking work under the terms of the LGPL. The Apache Software Foundation, presently takes a more conservative view and thus projects of the ASF are not allowed to link/distribute LGPL programs into Java projects of the foundation."

Dave Turner: "This sort of linking falls under section 6 of the LGPL."

Apparently Apache was right. µ

L'INQ
Here.