Use of libwebsockets is GPL-incompatible about bitlbee-discord

[EionRobb]

Do you need to go as far as using libsoup? Both libwebsockets and libsoup are doing 90% of what (i'm assuming, if it's anything like what libpurple) is doing under the hood, TCP/SSL connections.

I coded up my own basic websockets usage as part of the Pushbullet libpurple plugin, which certainly doesn't do 100% of what the websockets protocols are capable of, but might be enough for what Discord needs (or at least might be a starting point if you don't want to drag in another heavy dependency like libsoup)? https://github.com/EionRobb/pidgin-pushbullet/blob/master/libpushbullet.c#L256-L382

[sm00th]

Ouch, thats another reason to finally rewrite everything using libsoup that is at least stable and is under LGPL without any exceptions as far as I see.

[sm00th]

Nice, thanks for the pointer, I'll certainly look into this option.

[dequis]

I emailed [email protected] about this, as suggested by the GPL FAQ. Their reply:

Hello and thank you for writing in.

Hi. The libwebsockets project uses a license that is based on LGPL 2.1
with a few exceptions.

The full text is available here:

https://github.com/warmcat/libwebsockets/blob/master/LICENSE

The second exception reads:

2. You do not have to provide a copy of the libwebsockets license with
   programs that are linked to the libwebsockets library, nor do you have to
   identify the libwebsockets license in your program or documentation as
   required by section 6 of the LGPL.

However, programs must still identify their use of libwebsockets. The
following example statement can be included in user documentation to
satisfy this requirement:

"[program] is based in part on the work of the libwebsockets project
(https://libwebsockets.org)"

Someone pointed out that this is equivalent to the BSD advertising
clause. I think this is closer to the following part of the
Independent JPEG Group license, which is included in the list of GPL
compatible licenses in the GNU website.

(2) If only executable code is distributed, then the accompanying
documentation must state that "this software is based in part on the work of
the Independent JPEG Group".

So, is it safe to use libwebsockets in a GPL project? Should they make
any changes to the wording of the exception to make it unambiguous?

Thanks for your time.

My reading of the text is that they have only provided exceptions to the
terms of the LGPL. The requirement to provide notice with each copy of
the work that the Library is used in it is already a part of the LGPL,
so they aren't adding a new requirement by merely spelling that out.

So with the disclaimer that I am not a lawyer and cannot provide you
with a legal opinion or assurance, I hope this is of help.

[sm00th]

Aha, I wonder if it being listed in "requirements" is an enough of a notice. Anyway I was thinking about moving on to something else for a long time and I'll leave this open to track that effort.

[sm00th]

The plugin is libwebsockets-free since d00ef51. Thanks.