[Zope] MySQLDA woes with 2.4.1 RH6.1

Andy Dustman andy@dustman.net
21 Sep 2001 13:45:36 -0400


On Fri, 2001-09-21 at 12:34, Richard Moon wrote:
> At 16:36 21/09/01, you wrote:
> > > > > Is it really not possible to include the MySQLDA with the main Zope
> > > > > distribution ?
> > > > >
> > >
> > > Can you answer the above question ?
> >
> >All of the DAs for zope require linking with libraries supplied buy the
> >RDBMS vendor. There is generally a liscence restriction preventing ZC from
> >including those libraries with zope.
> 
> Sorry I don't understand - when you say linking do you mean at compile time 
> or run time. If compile time then presumably the people providing binary 
> DAs are themselves in breach of licences - if at run-time then what's the 
> problem ? If I haven't the licences on my system then the DA won't run.
> 
> Is this why MySQL-python needs to be compiled at my end - because otherwise 
> the author would breach licences ? If that is the case then I can 
> understand why it has to be done this way.

As far as I'm concerned, Zope Corp could package ZMySQLDA-2.0.8 as part
of Zope without my permission. It has a ZPL license because it is
derived from their ZOracleDA. The MySQL client libraries are LGPL, I
believe, and MySQLdb has a Python/GPL license. However, ZMySQLDA is
technically a third-party module, so it is probably not included for
that reason, among others. You'd have to ask Zope Corp. why it is not
included.

I have distributed precompiled ZMySQLDA distributions, complete with
MySQLdb, before, and the only reason I have not done so with with
ZMySQLDA-2.0.8 is that MySQLdb-0.9.1 is still in a release candidate
phase. Probably next week I will make a final release.

OTOH, take ZOracleDA. It is also not in Zope, even though it and the
DCOracle interface that it uses belong to Digital Creations (now Zope
Corp.), because it ultimately requires Oracle's client libraries, which
probably have distribution restrictions.

-- 
Andy Dustman         PGP: 0x930B8AB6
    @       .net     http://dustman.net/andy
You can have my keys when you pry them from my dead, cold neurons.