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DISTRO-DILEMMA: removed
Out of date and not kept accurate. It was sort of a problem of the past anyway.
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Daniel Stenberg
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Date: February 11, 2007
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Author: Daniel Stenberg <daniel@haxx.se>
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URL: http://curl.haxx.se/legal/distro-dilemma.html
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Condition
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This document is written to describe the situation as it is right now.
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libcurl 7.16.1 is currently the latest version available. Things may of
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course change in the future.
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This document reflects my view and understanding of these things. Please tell
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me where and how you think I'm wrong, and I'll try to correct my mistakes.
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Background
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The Free Software Foundation has deemed the Original BSD license[1] to be
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"incompatible"[2] with GPL[3]. I'd rather say it is the other way around, but
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the point is the same: if you distribute a binary version of a GPL program,
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it MUST NOT be linked with any Original BSD-licensed parts or libraries.
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Doing so will violate the GPL license. For a long time, very many GPL
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licensed programs have avoided this license mess by adding an exception[8] to
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their license. And many others have just closed their eyes for this problem.
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libcurl is MIT-style[4] licensed - how on earth did this dilemma fall onto
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our plates?
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libcurl is only a little library. libcurl can be built to use OpenSSL for its
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SSL/TLS capabilities. OpenSSL is basically Original BSD licensed[5].
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If libcurl built to use OpenSSL is used by a GPL-licensed application and you
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decide to distribute a binary version of it (Linux distros - for example -
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tend to), you have a clash. GPL vs Original BSD.
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This dilemma is not libcurl-specific nor is it specific to any particular
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Linux distro. (This article mentions and refers to Debian several times, but
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only because Debian seems to be the only Linux distro to have faced this
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issue yet since no other distro is shipping libcurl built with two SSL
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libraries.)
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Part of the Operating System
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This would not be a problem if the used lib would be considered part of the
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underlying operating system, as then the GPL license has an exception
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clause[6] that allows applications to use such libs without having to be
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allowed to distribute it or its sources. Possibly some distros will claim
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that OpenSSL is part of their operating system.
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Debian does however not take this stance and has officially(?) claimed that
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OpenSSL is not a required part of the Debian operating system
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Some people claim that this paragraph cannot be exploited this way by a Linux
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distro, but I am not a lawyer and that is a discussion left outside of this
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document.
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GnuTLS
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Since May 2005 libcurl can get built to use GnuTLS instead of OpenSSL. GnuTLS
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is an LGPL[7] licensed library that offers a matching set of features as
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OpenSSL does. Now, you can build and distribute an TLS/SSL capable libcurl
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without including any Original BSD licensed code.
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I believe Debian is the first (only?) distro that provides libcurl/GnuTLS
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packages.
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yassl
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libcurl can get also get built to use yassl for the TLS/SSL layer. yassl is a
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GPL[3] licensed library.
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GnuTLS vs OpenSSL vs yassl
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While these three libraries offer similar features, they are not equal.
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libcurl does not (yet) offer a standardized stable ABI if you decide to
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switch from using libcurl-openssl to libcurl-gnutls or vice-versa. The GnuTLS
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and yassl support is very recent in libcurl and it has not been tested nor
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used very extensively, while the OpenSSL equivalent code has been used and
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thus matured since 1999.
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GnuTLS
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- LGPL licensed
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- supports SRP
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- lacks SSLv2 support
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- lacks MD2 support (used by at least some CA certs)
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- lacks the crypto functions libcurl uses for NTLM
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OpenSSL
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- Original BSD licensed
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- lacks SRP
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- supports SSLv2
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- older and more widely used
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- provides crypto functions libcurl uses for NTLM
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- libcurl can do non-blocking connects with it in 7.15.4 and later
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yassl
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- GPL licensed
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- much untested and unproven in the real work by (lib)curl users so we don't
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know a lot about restrictions or benefits from using this
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The Better License, Original BSD, GPL or LGPL?
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It isn't obvious or without debate to any objective interested party that
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either of these licenses are the "better" or even the "preferred" one in a
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generic situation.
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Instead, I think we should accept the fact that the SSL/TLS libraries and
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their different licenses will fit different applications and their authors
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differently depending on the applications' licenses and their general usage
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pattern (considering how GPL and LGPL libraries for example can be burdensome
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for embedded systems usage).
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In Debian land, there seems to be a common opinion that LGPL is "maximally
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compatible" with apps while Original BSD is not. Like this:
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https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/09/msg01417.html
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More SSL Libraries
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In libcurl, there's no stopping us here. There are more Open Source/Free
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SSL/TLS libraries out there and we would very much like to support them as
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well, to offer application authors an even wider scope of choice.
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Application Angle of this Problem
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libcurl is built to use one SSL/TLS library. It uses a single fixed name (by
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default) on the built/created lib file, and applications are built/linked to
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use that single lib. Replacing one libcurl instance with another one that
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uses the other SSL/TLS library might break one or more applications (due to
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ABI differences and/or different feature set). You want your application to
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use the libcurl it was built for.
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Project cURL Angle of this Problem
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We distribute libcurl and everyone may build libcurl with either library at
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their choice. This problem is not directly a problem of ours. It merely
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affects users - GPL application authors only - of our lib as it comes
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included and delivered on some distros.
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libcurl has different ABI when built with different SSL/TLS libraries due to
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these reasons:
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1. No one has worked on fixing this. The mutex/lock callbacks should be set
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with a generic libcurl function that should use the proper underlying
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functions.
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2. The CURLOPT_SSL_CTX_FUNCTION option is not possible to "emulate" on GnuTLS
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but simply requires OpenSSL.
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3. There might be some other subtle differences just because nobody has yet
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tried to make a fixed ABI like this.
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Distro Angle of this Problem
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To my knowledge there is only one distro that ships libcurl built with either
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OpenSSL or GnuTLS.
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Debian Linux is now (since mid September 2005) providing two different
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libcurl packages, one for libcurl built with OpenSSL and one built with
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GnuTLS. They use different .so names and can this both be installed in a
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single system simultaneously. This has been said to be a transitional system
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not desired to keep in the long run.
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Footnotes
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[1] = http://www.xfree86.org/3.3.6/COPYRIGHT2.html#6
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[2] = https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/bsd.html
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[3] = https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
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[4] = http://curl.haxx.se/docs/copyright.html
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[5] = https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html
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[6] = https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html end of section 3
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[7] = https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html
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[8] = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSSL_exception
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Feedback/Updates provided by
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Eric Cooper
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@ -33,12 +33,12 @@ SUBDIRS = examples libcurl
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CLEANFILES = $(GENHTMLPAGES) $(PDFPAGES)
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CLEANFILES = $(GENHTMLPAGES) $(PDFPAGES)
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EXTRA_DIST = MANUAL BUGS CONTRIBUTE FAQ FEATURES INTERNALS SSLCERTS \
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EXTRA_DIST = MANUAL BUGS CONTRIBUTE FAQ FEATURES INTERNALS SSLCERTS \
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README.win32 RESOURCES TODO TheArtOfHttpScripting THANKS VERSIONS \
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README.win32 RESOURCES TODO TheArtOfHttpScripting THANKS VERSIONS \
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KNOWN_BUGS BINDINGS $(man_MANS) $(HTMLPAGES) HISTORY INSTALL \
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KNOWN_BUGS BINDINGS $(man_MANS) $(HTMLPAGES) HISTORY INSTALL \
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$(PDFPAGES) LICENSE-MIXING README.netware DISTRO-DILEMMA INSTALL.devcpp \
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$(PDFPAGES) LICENSE-MIXING README.netware INSTALL.devcpp \
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MAIL-ETIQUETTE HTTP-COOKIES SECURITY RELEASE-PROCEDURE \
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MAIL-ETIQUETTE HTTP-COOKIES SECURITY RELEASE-PROCEDURE SSL-PROBLEMS \
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SSL-PROBLEMS HTTP2.md ROADMAP.md CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
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HTTP2.md ROADMAP.md CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
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MAN2HTML= roffit < $< >$@
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MAN2HTML= roffit < $< >$@
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