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Is GCJ/Classpath headed for patent trouble?


Sorry if this issue has been long ago laid to rest -- I searched
the mailing list archives, and the GCJ and Classpath sites' FAQs,
but didn't find a definitive answer.

I just had a look at Sun's Java copyright doc
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/second_edition/html/ jcopyright.doc.html
which includes this:


Sun Microsystems, Inc. (SUN) hereby grants to you a fully paid, nonexclusive,
nontransferable, perpetual, worldwide limited license (without the right to
sublicense) under SUN's intellectual property rights that are essential to practice
this specification. This license allows and is limited to the creation and distribution
of clean room implementations of this specification that:


(i) include a complete implementation of the current version of this specification
without subsetting or supersetting;


(ii) implement all the interfaces and functionality of the required packages of the
Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition, as defined by SUN, without subsetting or
supersetting;


(iii) do not add any additional packages, classes, or interfaces to the java.* or
javax.* packages or their subpackages;


(iv) pass all test suites relating to the most recent published version of the
specification of the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition, that are available from
SUN six (6) months prior to any beta release of the clean room implementation
or upgrade thereto;


(v) do not derive from SUN source code or binary materials; and

(vi) do not include any SUN source code or binary materials without an appropriate
and separate license from SUN.

Do GCJ & Classpath actually meet all of these requirements? These seem pretty
stiff for GNU projects... If GCJ & Classpath don't meet these req's, isn't the FSF
just waiting for the unpleasant day Sun decides to enforce the above conditions?
What is the developers want to take these projects in a different direction than
Sun wants?


If GCJ and Classpath are indeed safe from major patent issues (from Sun) for the
long haul, I think it would be worthwhile to add items regarding this to the web
site's FAQs.


Thanks.


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