Summary of emails from D. Richard Hipp, the primary author and trademark owner of the SQLite name

August 02, 2009

I think I would be comfortable with a name like C#-SQLite. The prefix makes it clear that it is a reimplementation, not the original. People notice prefixes much more readily than suffixes. There is also precedent for changing a prefix for a reimplementation. Lucene, for example, was ported to C-Lucene. I'm sure there are others.

The whole point of this exercise it to avoid confusing people. Folks who use C#-SQLite need to be fully aware that what they are using is distinct and separate from the original SQLite. As long as that one condition is met, I am happy.

D. Richard Hipp

drh@hwaci.com

August 01, 2009

Noah, you are welcomed, even encouraged, to take the source code to SQLite and translate it in any way you want and do whatever you want with it. But you need to make it abundantly clear to everyone on your site and in the comments of your source code that your code is not the original SQLite. If you fail to do this, then soon or later (probably sooner if history is any indicator) people are going to start calling me at 2am and asking me to support your code. Or they are going to start blaming me for your mistakes. Both of these things will have the effect of making me very grumpy.

The best way to do this is to rename your code so that it doesn't contain "SQLite" anywhere in the name. You welcomed to add a subtitle that reads "An independent reimplementation of SQLite in C#" if you like. Just remove SQLite from the primary name, please.

Please also note that the SQLite source code is in the public domain, but the "SQLite" name is not. SQLite is a registered trade mark. If I don't defend the trademark, then I could lose it. So, I really do need to insist that you not use the name "SQLite" for your product.

Thanks for understanding. Keep up the good work. May you have much success with C#-lite.

D. Richard Hipp

drh@hwaci.com