Apache Lucy 0.1.0 provides an effectively identical feature set to KinoSearch 0.3x. Now that Lucy has been released, KinoSearch will be deprecated, and all new userland code should use Lucy instead. The project has moved, and all subsequent development will happen at our new home.

The Lucy project at Apache was rebooted last July, entering the Incubator with the intent of assimilating the KinoSearch code base and community. At the time, it was not yet clear that we would be able to use all of KinoSearch; a lot of IP clearance work had yet to be done.

As an (incubating) Apache product, Lucy must be released under the attribution-based, permissive Apache License 2.0. As the terms of this license are more liberal than the terms of the GPL/Artistic-1.0 licensing under which KinoSearch was developed, it was necessary to perform several steps before we could release:

• Audit the project's IP history, identifying all parties with an IP stake in the code base.
• Contact all past contributors.
• Organize a collective software grant to relicense the code to the Apache Software Foundation.
• Expunge contributions for which permission to relicense cannot be obtained.
• Remove or replace dependencies with incompatible licensing.

Fortunately, we were able to identify, contact and obtain permission from every last contributor, allowing us to start with KinoSearch in its entirety. Then we were able to replace a number of problematic dependencies without damaging the library's interface or functionality.

We still depend on JSON::XS and Parse::RecDescent, for which we assert usage under the terms of the Artistic License 1.0. As Artistic-1.0 is not formally approved by Apache legal affairs for use by Apache products, we are required to replace those dependencies as well prior to graduating from the Incubator to become a top-level Apache project. However, projects under incubation are held to a slightly lower standard, and we were able to secure a temporary dispensation allowing us to release.

It took a long time and a lot of work to get to this point -- and thank goodness that such work only has to be done once. Now that Lucy has been officially released, though, it is safe to send KinoSearch off into quiet retirement.