In Python 2.x there was a module for Berkley DB which is removed in Python 3 (bsddb module). I'm curious that since Berkley DB has always had a strong copyright license and it was not PSFL, how things worked legally. There is no mention in the docs[1] that if you use an import bsddb in your code you have to make it open-source. When they decided to remove it there was no mention of the license, just difficulty of maintenance[2].
So, was it possible to use Berkley DB without releasing your code as open-source before this change or was it because no one thought it was necessary to mention it in the docs?
I thought bsddb was not actually shipped with CPython, and had to be manually built (which was a pain and would invariably fail, IIRC). I guess people were supposed to check source docs.
No, not really. This is what happens in my normal Python installation in Windows:
Python 2.7.5 (default, May 15 2013, 22:43:36) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)] on win 32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from bsddb import db
>>> print db.DB_VERSION_STRING
Berkeley DB 4.7.25: (May 15, 2008)
>>>
And this[1] works completely. Just replace bsddb3 with bsddb.
So, was it possible to use Berkley DB without releasing your code as open-source before this change or was it because no one thought it was necessary to mention it in the docs?
[1] http://docs.python.org/2/library/bsddb.html [2] http://jessenoller.com/2008/09/04/stirred-up-dem-bees-should...