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Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

code.facebook.com

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Re: Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

#41

Post by abritinthebay »

0xbear wrote: post #24
jonny_eh wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it asymmetrical? I thought it was a "we won't sue you for anything in this software, unless you sue us first". This change still allows them to sue you for any reason.

It’s asymmetrical in the sense that your license terminates even if you sue them for something that’s not in the software you’re using. I.e. they rip off your feature, and you’re using React, you’re f##d.

Literally not true. You’d just revert to BSD if you sued.

So same protection as now.

Re: Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

#42

Post by chadaustin »

0xbear wrote: post #24
jonny_eh wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it asymmetrical? I thought it was a "we won't sue you for anything in this software, unless you sue us first". This change still allows them to sue you for any reason.

It’s asymmetrical in the sense that your license terminates even if you sue them for something that’s not in the software you’re using. I.e. they rip off your feature, and you’re using React, you’re f##d.

If you sued Facebook, you would have lost the patent grant, but not the copyright. With the new license, there's no patent grant at all, so if any code in React is patented, you're in the same boat as you'd have been if you'd sued in the prior situation.

Edit: It seems like some consider MIT, unlike BSD, to have an implied patent grant based on its wording: https://www.scribd.com/document/46088081/Closing-the-Loophol...

Re: Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

#43

Post by flamedoge »

blaqkangel wrote: post #11

That was incredibly unexpected. Facebook may very well end up in the majority's good graces with this move. I wonder how some of the bigger players will react (no pun intended) after their abandonment of React in lieu of Vue or some other framework. Interesting times indeed.

perhaps making a big deal out of it on mainstream media made it less unexpected? Odds are, it was a data-driven (shift in hype/marketshare) decision.

Re: Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

#44

Post by damosneeze »

liuliu wrote: post #31
0xbear wrote: post #10

Why not Apache 2.0 though? That would have been a logical choice.

MIT license doesn't contain any patent clause. So it is the same as BSD + Patents with patents part revoked. Thus, in theory, FB can still have a case on patent over React even if you use the source with copyright grant. Apache 2.0 has a patent grant from my understanding.

This is all so complicated, and there's so much conjecture and uncertainty from the community. Engineers interpreting legalese is a bad idea. We need impartial lawyers to explain each of these licenses in plain English, including the ramifications and side effects to consider, and put the debate to rest.

This has all been so tiring.

Re: Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

#46

Post by abritinthebay »

liuliu wrote: post #31
0xbear wrote: post #10

Why not Apache 2.0 though? That would have been a logical choice.

MIT license doesn't contain any patent clause. So it is the same as BSD + Patents with patents part revoked. Thus, in theory, FB can still have a case on patent over React even if you use the source with copyright grant. Apache 2.0 has a patent grant from my understanding.

Yup. There’s going to a lot of self congratulation going on in the comments but basically all this has done is remove explicit granting of patents.

Like... ok, great, better really hope you never get into legal issues with FB now

Re: Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

#47

Post by jhgg »

damosneeze wrote: post #37

Thank you, Wordpress.[1] [1] https://ma.tt/2017/09/on-react-and-wordpress/

I doubt it was related. The wheels to get this in motion must have started months in advanced, probably around the time ASF started advising against this license (labeling at as Category-X [1])

[1] https://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html#category-x

Re: Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

#48

Post by carussell »

maxton wrote: post #8

This is a very smart move by Facebook, and a win for the open source community as a whole. Why it took so long for the license change is a bit of a mystery, but removing the complications of software patents from their licenses will help further drive adoption and remove the precedent they were in danger of setting.

> a win for the open source community as a whole

I'm not sure how changing course from a direction that could have neutralized patents, to one engineered so patent aggressors aren't hurt, is something that can be considered a win for the open source community.

Re: Relicensing React, Jest, Flow, and Immutable.js

#49

Post by jameside »

vvanders wrote: post #6

Looks like React Native isn't included in the list for a license update.

The author of this Facebook Engineering post confirmed that React Native's license currently is the same as it's always been: https://twitter.com/dmwlff/status/911348886882607104. I don't want to get into a big discussion about precise details here but pragmatically both the MIT and Facebook BSD+Patents licenses work well for most businesses, in particular those that aren't seeking to claim patent infringement against others.
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