Kaffe, Swing, and NetBeans...

[Jim White]

At 04:12 PM 7/29/98 +0200, Peter C. Mehlitz wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Jul 1998, James D. McIninch wrote:
>>..for Linux with Swing 1.0.3. Running the application
>>fails with the error:
>>
>>	java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: java/awt/peer/LightweightPeer
>
>We are working on swing compatibility ( (some)peers, deprecateds and all
>that..) - still some way to go. But to make it public, somebody has to
show us
>how to work around the Gif license restrictions (since swing heavily uses
Gifs).

As the FSF policy on GIF and LZW explains, the Unisys and IBM patents only
apply to compression, not decompression.  Of course GIF images themselves
are not restricted in any way (other than copyright).  

Kaffe can safely include GIF decoding and GIF images.

"Why there are no GIF files on GNU web pages":
<http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/gif.html>

The greater concern should be in Swing's license which disallows
redistributing Swing with applications or applets which contains additional
software "intended" to "replace" any of Swing components (paragraph 1
clause ii).  Clause vi is a beaut also.  It also does not appear to allow
restribution of Swing with a JVM, unless you can construe it as a
"value-added application".

<http://java.sun.com/products/jfc/index.html#swing-download>

>1. License to Distribute. Licensee is granted a royalty-free right to
>reproduce and distribute the Software provided that Licensee: (i)
>distributes the Software, in whole or in part, only when incorporated
>into Licensee's value-added applet or application ("Program"); (ii)
>does not distribute additional software intended to replace any
>component(s) of the Software; (iii) does not remove or alter any
>proprietary legends or notices contained in the Software; (iv)
>includes the provisions of Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 in or in
>addition to Licensee's license agreement for the Program; (v) to the
>extent Programs are developed which utilize the Windows 95 style
>graphical user interface or components contained therein, such applets
>or applications may only be developed to run on a Windows 95 or
>Windows NT platform; and (vi) agrees to indemnify, hold harmless, and
>defend Sun and its licensors from and against any claims or lawsuits,
>including attorneys' fees, that arise or result from the use or
>distribution of the Program.


jim
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James P. White                        Netscape DevEdge Champion for IFC
Director of Technology Adventure Online Gaming http://www.gameworld.com
Developers of Gameworld -- Live Action Role-Playing and Strategic Games
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