Reply to post: Re: The problem is not Oracle (for once)

Re: The problem is not Oracle (for once)

So why is it Oracle’s fault? What’s your reasoning?

As I see it, there is a perfectly usable open sourced version of zfs

I’m no fan of Oracle, but in this specific case, why are they at fault?

Because OpenZFS is still under the CDDL as it is a derivative - a fork - of Sun's (now Oracle's) original ZFS released under the CDDL. Since it is a derivative, I believe (OpenZFS devs would have to chime in here?) it uses some of the same APIs.

Therefore:

1) It is under the incompatible CDDL, therefore can't be included in GPL'ed code as it stands. And CDDL doesn't allow you to make a fork and change the license. A completely new clean-room from-scratch implementation would have to be done.

2) Oracle has a history of suing over APIs. Since the current US precedent¹ is that APIs can be copyrighted, the Linux kernel project is rightly worried that if ZFS came under the auspices of them, it would paint a big target on their backs for Oracle to sue.

3) A clean-room implementation would have to do away with the existing APIs and come up with their own, otherwise see 2.

¹: Currently on appeal to SCOTUS, to be heard sometime this year (probably).