glibc 2.1 pulled due to license problems

el_nino writes "It seems glibc 2.1 has been withdrawn because of a license problem. A mail from Adam J. Richter to the bugs-glibc mailing list: "The source files in the db2 section of glibc-2.1 point to a nonexistant file named "LICENSE." The files are apparently written by Sleepycat software, and the copying conditions found on www.sleepycat.com for this package are the BSD copying conditions with the advertising restrictions that FSF claims are incompatible with the GPL." The glibc-2.1-README on ftp.gnu.org says: "glibc-2.1 has been (temporarily) removed, until some political issues are worked out." " Zack Weinberg wrote with an update: I'd like to correct some factual errors in the story you posted on Slashdot regarding glibc 2.1 being pulled from ftp.gnu.org. The pull has nothing to do with the license conditions for db2. There is some disagreement over whether the BSD license is compatible with the GPL, but FSF's official stance is that they are. The license for db2 is clearly stated in an appendix to the libc manual (see manual/contrib.texi).

glibc 2.1 has been pulled since it cannot be compiled with gcc 2.8 and this conflicts with FSF policy. We are working with RMS to resolve the issue. In the meantime, glibc 2.1 remains available from sourceware.cygnus.com and its mirrors.

zw