Licenses often distinguish between commercial use and non-commercial use. I found different sources discussing this topic:
- What is commercial and non-commercial?
- What Does Commercial Software Mean?
- Related question: Classifying Commercial and non commercial use
- The tags commercial and non-commercial
But I still don't know how to decide if I use a software commercially or not. Is there a canonical check list on how to decide whether the usage of a software is commercial or not?
Example 1
I bundle different software products together and sell them.
I'm pretty sure, that this is commercial use, because it is sold directly.
Example 2
I use software to create a product, that I sell.
This is also commercial use, in my opinion, as the software directly supports the financial gain.
Example 3
I use software to maintain the IT infrastructure of a company so that the employees can use the IT infrastructure to create products, which the company sells.
I'm not sure here. The use of the software does indirectly support the business.
Example 4
As a software developer, I can use all my SE tools directly on my computer to create software, that I sell. But I can also use all my SE tools inside a VM hosted by any hypervisor (e. g. VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, Hyper-V etc.). If I use that hypervisor software, is that commercial usage?
I'm not sure here. The use of the hypervisor might indirectly support the financial gain. But if it does not really matter, if I use it or not, does it really support anything?
The examples are just examples. I'm not looking for specific answers to them. As stated, I'm looking for a canonical check list. I mean, developers who distinguish between commercial use and non-commercial use of their products, what do they intend?