Is it possible to make a closed-source application with Qt and PyQt5, using the open source licenses available for those libraries, in the way described below?
Suppose there are no changes made to the PyQt or Qt library themselves. Consider, for the purposes of this question, making use of PyQt5 via a Python import statement like this:
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QMainWindow
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QWidget
To my knowledge, in order to distribute a closed-source binary that makes use of these libraries, it is necessary to buy a commercial PyQt license from Riverbank, plus a commercial Qt license from Qt. I'm interested in knowing if that's true for the case outlined in this question.
In support of the idea that it may be possible to use the LGPL option for Qt, my understanding from this post is that disclosing the source code for a main application is not necessary in the case that the main application dynamically links to the Qt library. My questions are
- Does this way of using the Qt library qualify as dynamically linking?
- Does such a proposed use of these libraries in a closed-source application fall under what is allowed by the (L)GPL options for Qt and/or PyQt (or would it be necessary to buy one or more commercial licenses to distribute such an app)?
- What if I hire someone who have commercial licenses do the GUI development for me?
I'm not seeking for legal advice, any answer to my question won't be considered as legal advice. No one should take any answer in this post as legal advice. This question asks about the requirements of the LGPL/GPL as applied to Python's
importmechanism, within a potentially closed-source application.
