Two days ago we added the
University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License to the list of licenses in the
MySQL FLOSS license exception. In my opinion
exception is actually a badly chosen word -
extension would probably be more sufficient here as it actually extends the scope of the MySQL client libraries license. From the introductionary text on top of the document:
We want specified Free/Libre and Open Source Software ("FLOSS") applications to be able to use specified GPL-licensed MySQL client libraries (the "Program") despite the fact that not all FLOSS licenses are compatible with version 2 of the GNU General Public License (the "GPL").
In other words, the license exception allows the distribution of a derived work including the MySQL Client Libraries under a number of
OSI-approved Open Source Licenses. This allows a broader range of (non-GPL) Open Source applications to link against the MySQL Client libraries. In essence, it makes the GPL less restrictive.
