Rationale for the Classpath exception

[Florian Weimer]

I've been looking at single-executable deployments on Windows and
noticed that while the jdk subcomponent is mostly GPL plus Classpath
exception, Hotspot is GPL without the exception.  As far as I can tell,
this makes single-executable deployments nearly impossible, even for
non-proprietary applications, because code from the Apache Software
Foundation is so ubiquitous in the Java world (even OpenJDK includes
them).

Most free Hotspot replacements are released under the GPL, too, so it is
difficult for me to imagine a rationale for using the Classpath
exception on the jdk subcomponent, when you still need to ship another
component which is GPL-licensed.

-- 
Florian Weimer                <fweimer at bfk.de>
BFK edv-consulting GmbH       http://www.bfk.de/
Kriegsstraße 100              tel: +49-721-96201-1
D-76133 Karlsruhe             fax: +49-721-96201-99