Again: Weka in PDI in commerical software

[steffen]

Hello fellow Miners

I deeply apologize if this question has been asked and answered before, but a search on the forums (using "weka" and "license" as keywords) confuses me even more.

PDI is LGPL => it is allowed (under LGPL Conditions) to use it within proprietary software.

Pentaho Data Mining aka Weka is GPL => infecting any non-GPL-Programs using Weka, which means it is simply not usable within proprietary software.
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As far as I see, there is no Weka step in the default distribution of Kettle. So using Kettle without Weka plugins means that the whole thing remains LGPL, meanwhile including the plugins (which rely on Weka) means that Kettle becomes GPL (according to: http://forums.pentaho.org/showthread.php?t=57067&highlight=license+weka)

Is this correct ?

If true, it is correct that it is possible to buy Kettle and so eliminate the GPL-Nature of the Weka - Plugin ? (according to:http://forums.pentaho.org/showthread.php?t=52593&highlight=weka+license)

I again apologize if this issue has been treated before

kind regards,

Steffen

[tdidomenico]

Interesting question.

I've seen an old announcement by Matt, from when Weka was added to Pentaho, stating that since Weka was acquired Kettle would not need to be GPLed if plugins were developed. See http://forums.pentaho.org/showthread.php?t=25627

I fail to understand why Pentaho acquiring a GPL project would change its licensing behaviour. Or maybe I fail to understand how the licensing works.

Any light on this would be really appreciated.

Cheers!

[Mark]

Hi Steffen,

Weka and the Weka plugins for Kettle are indeed GPL. Pentaho has the right to sell commercial licenses for Weka in the BI space. You wouldn't need to buy a commercial license for Kettle, just for Weka.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Mark.

[steffen]

Hello Mark

Indeed, it does. Many thanks for the fast response.

I just stumbled upon http://community.pentaho.com/faq/data_mining.php (uups)

kind regards,

Steffen