I've already gone through the following links and many more:
Using a tool under GPL v2 in a commercial application
Can I use GPL libraries in a closed source project if only the output is distributed?
GPLv2 - licensing for commercial use
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0-faq.en.html#DoesFreeSoftwareMeanUsingTheGPL
But still need some clarification.
So I'm developing a commercial software that would require virtual com ports to work. I know there are many great paid tools like Elitma
, but I stumbled upon com0com
which is free. But it's licensed under GPL v2
[https://github.com/paulakg4/com0com/blob/master/license.txt].
I'm not modifying the com0com
tool but using it as it is. (just using the CLI API, not even any DLL api, to create COM ports). I just need the virtual ports and have nothing else to do with the tool.
So here are my questions:
Can I bundle
com0com
installer along with my application and freely distribute it without having to share my source code ?? I can share thecom0com
source if required, but will I have to shareMY
application source code as well ?If yes, is there any other way? Like not bundling the 3rd party installer with my application, but urging the user to download it from a website (maybe my own website) ?
If I'm developing an independent software that
incidentally
uses the 3rd party tool for some functionality, and not modifying the tool itself, will my work still fall under derivative work ?