Questions tagged [closed-source]
For questions about closed-source software and how it relates to open source.
93
questions
3
votes
1
answer
76
views
File format convertor for open source and proprietary file formats
I want to build an application that will enable a user to convert files from any one of three formats, into any of those three formats. In order words, there are three formats:
aaa, bbb and ccc
My ...
- 219
1
vote
0
answers
29
views
Can a GPL binary, that has no source code released, be reverse engineered, and that source be released? [duplicate]
can a GPL binary, that have no source code released, be reverse engineered and that source be released?
Some devs get a project in GPL, implement new things, release the binary but do not release the ...
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-3
votes
1
answer
144
views
Can I use Qt for closed source commercial software? [duplicate]
I am developing an application for geological research that I intend to sell for commercial purposes. With it I need a GUI too. I started using tkinter, but it seems to be, at least for me, somehow ...
- 830
2
votes
1
answer
107
views
Do I have to comply with the LGPL when using a BSD-licensed library in a closed-source application, which then uses other LGPL-licensed libraries?
I am going to implement a closed-source, commercial application that uses and links statically the modbus-esp8266 library which is released under a BSD New license. At the same time, you can see in ...
2
votes
2
answers
148
views
How do I make a partially-free open-core product that permits custom plugins?
I have a native application I would like to release under a copyleft license. The application embeds a Lua interpreter and exposes an application-specific interface to Lua code. I would like to ...
- 2,058
2
votes
1
answer
63
views
Commercial aggregate with open container and closed GUI
Is it possible to sell open-source R scripts in Linux containers run with Podman on Windows and control the containers with closed-source graphical user interface (GUI)? The straightforward and openly ...
- 31
5
votes
0
answers
197
views
System libraries and exceptions regarding closed source distribution
There are some specific usage examples I would like to learn, regarding of using some open source libraries inside a commercial closed source product(binary, executable). Most of the answers online ...
- 219
5
votes
2
answers
292
views
Can I link (and distribute) a closed source library within my (GPL) open source software?
I could not find a good answer to this except here. Maybe it's trivial, or maybe it's just uncommon.
I want to develop an open source application, and I am keen to use a GPL license, but I need to ...
- 5,012
3
votes
1
answer
927
views
Can I use a library under the Cecill-B licence in my commercial closed-source app?
I'm working on a commercial closed-source app and I need to use a library under the Cecill-B licence.
I read the licence terms here
and it desn't say it is mandatory to distribute the source code of ...
- 101
1
vote
0
answers
34
views
Can I close source a derivative work of an OSS project I am the copyright holder? [duplicate]
I have a new project that will be open source, but want a fork to override some implementations just for me. (a package inside a Go project)
I am the copyright holder of the project (upstream)
I have ...
- 111
4
votes
2
answers
162
views
License that says you must share changes if you use the code?
Many licenses seem to say you can do whatever you want but must include the source with the binary (or credit if you're using MIT)
There's two cases that come to mind.
Firmware/software on hardware. ...
- 512
10
votes
6
answers
4k
views
How can I license open source software with a closed-source component?
Let's say I have three repositories on GitHub that I own. I made repository #1 open source under the MIT license. Repository #2 is mostly user graphical interface stuff, but I made it private without ...
- 148
3
votes
1
answer
70
views
Features in an Open Source Project that can only be tested against proprietary data
I'm currently involved in a project to produce a tool for carrying out certain types of standardised performance assesments on a specific type of industrial plant, that will soon be going open source. ...
- 47k
2
votes
1
answer
319
views
Does the Common Public License (CPL-1.0) require dynamic linking to keep source code undisclosed?
I'm looking into the rules of the Common Public License and am wondering how far it's copyleft-ness extends.
AFAIK: With LGPL you can keep the library you wish to use in a separate .dll or .so, ...
- 7,054
3
votes
1
answer
610
views
MIT license modify package and names
I have downloaded code that is under the MIT license, and will modify parts of the code, as well as rename classes, namespaces and files, and I plan to relicense the code under one or all of the ...
- 7,054
3
votes
1
answer
417
views
Can a program that uses a GPL library be closed source if it is distributed without the GPL library?
Suppose I create software that uses a library licensed under the GPL. If I distribute the software including the library, the software would have to be licensed under the GPL as well. But what if I ...
-2
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Can i copy MIT licensed code and then publish it as my own?
i have a question.
Can i copy code (500 lines) from an open source python pip library under MIT license, modify the code and add my (100 lines) and then publish it as not open source and charge people ...
- 47k
1
vote
0
answers
513
views
Why exactly is NirSoft's software not open source? [closed]
Apologies if this type of question isn't allowed here, but I am quite curious about this.
If you don't know, NirSoft is some sort of dev that has created a lot of software for use on Windows primarily....
- 47k
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Open source licenses and royalties
Many projects, e.g. GitLab, BitWarden, EasyRedmine, use open source software licenses. Their code is publicly available, and the services can be self-hosted.
Of course they can charge users for ...
- 247
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Maintaining open- and closed-source versions of same code
As an individual freelancer, I'm writing some code for my customer's commercial closed-source project. The customer don't mind me to open-source this code, but they would like the code to be available ...
4
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Apache License 2.0-licensed code included in commercial closed source software
I spent an hour looking for an answer to this question, although I would think a quite common situation, I did not get a totally clear answer to my specific case:
So I am selling a (P)roduct which is ...
5
votes
3
answers
163
views
Can I use an unmerged pull request to an Apache 2.0 project in my proprietary fork?
There's a project under Apache 2.0 which has an abondoned pull request. I plan to use this code, fix it and merge into my proprietary fork of the main project. This fork is a part of a bigger ...
- 161
5
votes
1
answer
822
views
If I use a mobile app that fetches data from a website under GPLv2+ is the app also under GPL?
I am currently programming a mobile app that is not under the GPL.
However, the mobile app correspond with a website that is under GPL Version 2 or higher. In my case the mobiel app send request via ...
- 35.6k
1
vote
1
answer
197
views
MIT License for a translation
There's a software called vnpy on github that's in chinese.
We have a translated copy to english. The goal is to keep their MIT license but just for that code.
We're wondering: Should we make a ...
- 5,217
0
votes
1
answer
721
views
Are the terms proprietary software and closed source software synonymous?
I think that when a software is proprietary, then its source code is "legally defended" and hence not released to the general public in any way.
Are the terms proprietary software and closed ...
- 38.6k
0
votes
2
answers
897
views
How to include licenses of dependencies in commercial closed-source proprietary software?
Our company is developing an enterprise application that is essentially a set of different applications (microservices). Some of these microservices are based on node.js while others are based on ...
- 1
4
votes
2
answers
238
views
How to protect communities from devolving into "open source in name only"?
There are many open source communities that provide good and effective tools and ecosystems for their users. In fact, there is not doubt that the best programming tools available in this age, follow a ...
1
vote
0
answers
684
views
Can the official MySQL connectors be used in a commercial closed-source backend?
The official Oracle MySQL connectors seem to correspond with these GitHub repositories:
mysql-connector-cpp
mysql-connector-nodejs
mysql-connector-python
...
They all contain a LICENSE.txt that ...
- 111
4
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How do you sell a hardware product that uses the linux kernel?
I would like to create a Linux based OS for a VR headset that I'm developing. From what I understand, the Linux kernel uses the GPL-2 license which allows for commercial use but it also requires you ...
- 5,012
1
vote
1
answer
52
views
GPL in Plugin for a open source application
I am trying to do a feasibility study for doing a plugin that implements a 2D geometry solver in various programs. The solver is GPL v3. Some of the programs are GPL themselves but some are not, like ...
- 776
1
vote
1
answer
52
views
License compliance for a closed source client calling open source server interface to open source library
We have a large proprietary application, a portion of which is a collection of microservers written in Go. We're considering the following:
Write a Go microserver, with a GPL license, on top of a ...
- 38.6k
2
votes
1
answer
288
views
Releasing code containing MIT library using all right reserved license?
For example, I have code
int main()
{
myFunction();
MitCopyPastedFunction();
}
where I have copied a section of code from a MIT licensed library. In this case, i want to release my project ...
- 35.6k
2
votes
0
answers
28
views
Crediting a library [duplicate]
I'm using a library for a commercial application, and I'm wondering how I credit that library. The library is using the BSD-3-Clause license, and my application is going to be closed source.
Do I ...
- 38.6k
3
votes
2
answers
659
views
Using reverse-engineered closed protocol in open source software
The question is a partial derivative of this one: Someone open-sourced an un-open-source project
Here is the situation:
There is a device and a proprietary software to manage that device. They are ...
- 38.6k
1
vote
1
answer
109
views
Do I have the right to the bundle that generate by / dependent on open-source libraries?
I created a project with the following structure:
The question is:
Do I have the right to the BUNDLE where I do not want clients to resell the BUNDLE they have bought?
Is it sufficient to include ...
5
votes
1
answer
205
views
Does learning boilerplate code from a project with a restrictive license make my own work derivative?
I have an application I want to put my own license on. In order to get my application started, I wrestled with boilerplate code issues I was not able to find answers for online. When I tried launching ...
3
votes
1
answer
485
views
Could the GPL "infect" my Code if the libraries I used violated the GPL?
Let's assume I use in my closed source a library A which is by the Author claimed as a non GPL license (e.g. MIT, LGPL or even a paid license).
Now somebody finds out, that one of the used library in ...
- 38.6k
51
votes
4
answers
18k
views
Someone open-sourced an un-open-source project
Someone (Person_A) is sharing an open source project (Project_A) on GitHub. The Project_A is a decompiled version of another project (Project_B). But the original Project_B is not open source, and ...
CommunityBot
- 1
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Is Google's Chrome web browser truly open source?
I have been trying to understand if Google's Chrome web browser is truly open source. Some people claim that it is, while others claim that it integrates binary blobs for which the source is ...
- 47k
3
votes
2
answers
202
views
Using GLPv3 for open-source library modules that can be extended and linked by closed-source libraries and binaries
I'm developing a pretty big open-source project which will require multiple technology stacks. My hope is that this project will be primarily community-based, which means the community should be able ...
- 395
3
votes
1
answer
79
views
Which licence do I choose, publishing a previously closed-source product?
From 2001 thru 2019, a company "A" that I own and I am the CEO of with HQ in EU, had a commercial software product for sale on the international market.
We issued perpetual per-site licences to what ...
- 47k
6
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What license to use for GitHub repository containing trademark/copyright protected images?
I just can't seem to find an answer to this.
Normally I assign MIT License to all of my GitHub repositories, but so far they have only included code that I have personally written. I think that MIT ...
- 47k
-2
votes
1
answer
106
views
closed source binary in Linux image
I've got question about following situation: if i have closed source binary and device with Linux, i want to sell this device with Linux and closed binary in its filesystem. Is it legal to keep source ...
30
votes
4
answers
9k
views
Can I use my own GPL'ed code in my closed source program?
Let's say that program A was made by me, with me being the sole copyright holder. If I license this program under the GPL-3.0, can I use that program in program B that is closed source?
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
1
answer
148
views
Usage of closed-source software loaded into GPL software as a plugin
I'm distributing a device (ARMv8 server) which runs GNU GPL licensed software. I've changed this software so that it is able to load any plugin in the form of *.so file. I've open-sourced this feature ...
- 10.8k
1
vote
2
answers
710
views
Redistributing 7-Zip Binaries with LGPL & BSD 3-clause License
We want to use 7Zip to extract the contents of the ISO file in our paid product.
There is no other API free library available as of now that can unzip ISO files on all Windows platforms that we want ...
- 5,217
4
votes
2
answers
419
views
Can a Proprietary Application Exchange Data with a GPL'd Program?
I am considering extending a proprietary application so it communicates with an open source program.
This open source program is very similar to Matlab. The user can input commands to execute ...
- 5,217
3
votes
1
answer
271
views
Can I sell closed source plugins that interface with a GPL v2 software which is open sourced? [duplicate]
Basically, I have an idea for some software based on an Open Sourced application.
If I was to build an application based off of that, and sell my plugins, would this be a breach of terms? This is the ...
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25
votes
1
answer
51k
views
Can I use a Apache v2 licensed driver for a commercial project without revealing sources of the project?
I am building a project that will be commercialised. One of the library I use is licensed under Apache v2.
To my understanding, if I modify the library, I need to give the source of the library with ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
1
answer
646
views
Open source project on a closed source engine (Unity) with GPL covered data
There's a project called Endless Sky
It's license for Source code is GPL,
The license for Graphics is CC-BY, CC-BY-SA and Public Domain.
The license for Data .txt files with content like this is ...