I've read through https://www.latex-project.org/lppl/lppl-1-3/ but I still don't really understand how this licence works. Can I use the "work" under this licence in a commercial product?
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1The simple answer is "yes" but exactly how you do that will depend on exactly what you want to do. Are you intending to a) distribute an unmodified copy of the LaTeX binaries as you received them? b) modify the LaTeX source code to create new binaries? c) distribute the output of the LaTeX binaries d) something else?– Philip KendallCommented Sep 1, 2020 at 6:44
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I think its both a) and c). The LaTeX file is a pre-compiled set of word patterns which would ship with (my) existing program. This pattern would be used to format a document as an output for a user.– illya_kCommented Sep 1, 2020 at 8:55
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1 Answer
What is the license on the original set of word patterns?
Just pre-compiling a LaTeX file to speed up it's use, should not put the output under the LPPL.
In other words if you are the creator of the original file before it was pre-compiled, you can use it how you wish.
Normally the LPPL is used for projects that want to make sure that programs distributed under a name/version are identical to each other. In other words you can't distribute something claiming be "XXX" unless it is identical to the orignal "XXX" distribution.
This also means that if that pre-compiled file is part of another project that is licensed under the LPPL, you can not just include that single file unless there is another license that applies to its distribution. On the other hand you could distribute the entire project, but only use certain files from it in your own project.
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Welcome to the opensource stack! If you have them available, could you include sources to back up claims? Generally this not only shows a clearer distinction between opinion and fact, but also helps people to conduct their own research. Commented Nov 26, 2020 at 8:48