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There are a few questions about MySQL licensing already out there, but none of them have a definitive "yes" or "no" answer, so with the risk of being flagged as "duplicate", I will ask my question as clear as possible:

Can I bundle the MySQL Connector/J JAR file with my commercially (closed source) product?

Background: The MySQL Connector/J license is GPL2, which requires me to include MY source if it's a derivative work. But it's not a derivative work. It would be used as a library, not a compile-time dependency. Does this fall under "mere aggregation"?

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    Have you read the GPL FAQ on aggregation? "If modules are designed to run linked together in a shared address space, that almost surely means combining them into one program."
    – Philip Kendall
    May 15 at 9:47
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    Does this answer your question? MySQL Connector/J License or MySQL for Commercial Web Application
    – Martin_in_AUT
    May 15 at 12:08
  • I think this question is more about "does (dynamic) linking create a derivative work" rather than the specifics of the MySQL licensing. We've got duplicates of that as well of course :)
    – Philip Kendall
    May 15 at 13:47
  • The Web Application answer is not exactly relevant, as the OP does not distribute his project, and I would. The closest is the Discord Bot answer. @PhilipKendall It looks like that is more the case indeed. Eventually it becomes a semanctical discussion of "linking" vs "using a library", and I'd rather not have this discussion with the Oracle Legal Team…
    – SurfMan
    May 16 at 12:56
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    I appreciate that question/answer may not have the definitive answer you want. But the real world doesn't always have definitive answers, sometimes you have to deal with uncertainty. The simple way to avoid any discussion with the Oracle legal team is just not to use the MySQL connector...
    – Philip Kendall
    May 16 at 12:59

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