Re: Sun buys out MySQL

Lew wrote:
> Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>> Code with a hardcoded Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver") will
>> only work with MySQL.
>>
>> It is a thin line, but I think the line is there.
> 
> How would you view code that injects a driver from a deployment 
> descriptor, similarly to
>  Class.forName( context.getAttribute( "dbdriver" ));
> during init()?
> 
> Here we're assuming a getAttribute() that returns a class name read from

> a deployment descriptor at run time.
> 
> This idiom will work with any database system for which a JDBC driver 
> JAR is available at run time, whether obtained from the application 
> vendor or some other source (such as directly from MySQL).  It could 
> even allow an application to hot-swap its back end, though goodness 
> knows why anyone would do such a thing.
> 
> Every time I've encountered this controversy over whether the GPL 
> restricts certain uses of GPLed JDBC drivers, it hinges on the 
> definition of "linking" to the JDBC driver.  The term is a holdover from

> when most GPLed code was written in C (gcc), and doesn't apply as neatly

> to Java.  I think it would require case law to resolve the question.

You are right that some rulings from the legal system
would help clear up things.

But as long as the code in question can run unchanged with
multiple databases, then I would not call it linking.

Arne