Questions tagged [gpl]
The GNU's General Public License, a commonly-used free software license. The GPL has various versions, v1-v3, so use this tag only for questions talking about overarching issues of the licenses or shared characteristics. For example, for a question about a unique section on version 3, use the [gpl-3] tag.
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Where can I find a license file for Ubuntu linux OS/Distributive? [duplicate]
There is no any license agreement in the installation process (as I checked for ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso) nor license link on their website (include it's terms section) nor license file in ...
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Include Tool under GPLv3 licence as an additional Unity executable - Is this approach viable?
Am developing an Unity game where I require the functionality of this tool (which is written in Unity itself) at runtime: https://boundingboxsoftware.com/materialize/
It essentially processes images/...
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Maintaining a parallel fork of a project that contains the original authors' company name
I have been working on my own changes to a complicated academic/scientific project whose name contains their organization (university) name that I am not part of, for example, if their organization ...
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What does GPLv2 say about adding or removing source files?
GPLv2 requires, when redistributing modified version of the source code, to notify in the source files the date of change.
But what about removing source files? Is there any requirements of notifying ...
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Which Free-software license should I use in a Unity project located on a public Github repository?
I have a Unity project in a public repository (https://github.com/AdrianXuizGarcia/VirManDC), and I want to make it open source.
Im not sure which license should I use... All code and assets are made ...
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Why does the GPL not specify a jurisdiction or choice of law clause?
tl;dr version Unlike most software licenses, the GPL (at least version 3.0) does not contain a choice of law provision. Why is this, and what provisions are in place to adjudicate disputes in the ...
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Ok to mix open source with closed source?
I am considering creating a product which has 2 parts:
Client (video screengrabbing) - which makes use of an existing (GPL licenced) screen grabber and uploads video + metadata to …
Server (video ...
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If I make my website open source, does it include page content?
Do open source licenses such as GPL or MPL include page content such as text and such within the open source file, or just code, therefore layout?
Because if I go open source for my website can ...
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GNU licence re-distribute abandoned project
I use a project that are licensed under
GNU General Public License version 2 or later
The code owner has abandoned the project and announced they leave it public as FOSS on github.
The company with ...
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Is it possible to apply the GPL license to “built static libraries”?
Is it possible to keep the source code under an exclusive license, but apply the GPL license only to the built binary code, so that software that uses this binary code is subject to a GPL-compatible ...
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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 ...
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Is user data part of an AGPL-derived-application?
Assuming we have a kubernetes application stack consisting of - among other things - MongoDB and Metabase. Metabase is APGLv3 licensed. We share the combined code as e.g. helm charts publicly on ...
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Docker image with proprietary software and GPL library
As a company we have a proprietary software, coded in Java and distributed to our clients in .war packages that they run on their servers. To run, the software requires a program licensed under GPLv2 ...
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Can support of GPL software legally be done in such a way as to practically force you to abandon your GPL rights?
I was looking to purchase a license to software from the author. The software is GPL licensed (I assume because its a Wordpress plugin - and thus compelled to be GPL).
My interest in purchasing the ...
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Need Help Choosing a FOSS License for a Swift Package With Specific Requirements [duplicate]
Stack Overflow community!
I'm working on a Swift package and am having some trouble deciding which FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) license to use. I have specific requirements and am hoping ...
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Why it is not possible to create a proprietary fork of GPL?-or-later software?
Let's assume there is a project under GPL2-or-later license. My understanding
is that anyone can take the project and make a fork with GPL2-only additions.
They could also take the project and make a ...
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Am I legally required to provide a (GPL licensed) source code even after a project is abandoned?
I plan to develop an application using an easy to use GPLv2 licensed libraries. Once my app is complete I plan to distribute it free and open source complying with GPLv2 copyleft requirements. The ...
CommunityBot
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About unlicensed files
I was trying to release a library with LGPL license. However I had discovered that many time ago I copied and pasted in the library a header file defining some constants. This file was found on the ...
CommunityBot
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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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BSD-2-Clause Plus Patent License and GPL Version 3 Compatibility
The BSD-2-Clause Plus Patent License is known to be compatible with the GPL version 2. Since software that is released under the GPL version 2 only is not compatible with the GPL version 3, is the BSD-...
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Gimp and Inkscape on Android: licensing (GPL?)
I have found the following apps on the Google Play store. They are traditional Linux apps for drawing, that are running on Android (with some modification to the source code, I believe).
I would like ...
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GPL classpath exception as a basis for a simple proprietary license
I'm about to release a GPL licensed application framework and am planning on dual-licensing with a proprietary license. I'm wondering if the GPL classpath exception could be used as a basis for a ...
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Is GNU's stance on what constitutes a 'single combined program' universally accepted?
GNU's website has a FAQ section where they say what constitutes and what doesn't constitute a 'single combined program'. My current understanding is that, if you use GPL code in a 'single combined ...
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Is there a software license that says anyone can do what they want with it except sell it or sell modified versions of it? [duplicate]
From what I can tell GPL lets folks modify your code and sell it and MIT lets them do whatever they want.
I plan on charging for my application. I am okay if someone wants to tweak it and use it for ...
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GPL compliance when license was not provided? (You unknowingly derived from code that was in breach of GPL)
Let's say Person A creates some code and licenses it under a GPL license. If someone (we'll call them Person B) then creates code which derives from Person A's code, but fails to obey the terms of the ...
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2
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Stack Exchange's CC-BY-SA and Patents
All contributions to the Stack Exchange Websites are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC-BY-SA), either version 2.5, 3.0, or 4.0 depending on the post date. This ...
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Can this NVIDIA licence be used for GPL open source product?
For my GPL open source software I use LGPL-based libraries. I recently found a very useful NVIDIA SDK which I would like to use for my software. NVIDIA is using its own license, and I have difficulty ...
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Fix backtick formatting in GNU GPLv3 license
The formatting issues described in this question on Stack Overflow (backtick ` at the start and a single quote ' at the end of the quotes) do also appear in the GNU GPLv3 license text (plain text &...
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Non Wordpress-repository Plugin license
A client asked me to write a WP plugin that is just for their website - it won't be on the repository. Basically it contains a form, place-able with a shortcode, and then sends the collected entry ...
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Inter-compatibility of licenses
I would like to sell a Java desktop application of mine to more schools after having success with one single school. Seems like it wouldn't have been a problem, if I haven't mixed different licenses ...
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Can I use GPL libraries in a closed source project if only the output is distributed?
If I create a closed source application which uses some GPL licensed libraries but don't actually distribute the software, only its output, can I keep the software closed sourced?
Specifically, I am ...
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Publish open source
I use iText in my application
Is the application considered open source if I put the AGPL3 license when publishing the application on Google Play only?, or I must to do something else to considered ...
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AGPL3 and commercial use
I am looking at opensource licenses and I feel a bit overwhelmed about AGPLv3.
Let's imagine that I would like to create a facebook clone. I would also like to self host my own object storage (for ...
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How exactly is the GPL "general public"?
According to general public definitions, "general public" means "everyone". Yet the GPL seems to be entirely concerned with the freedom to make changes to software.
few software ...
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Do public foundation registered members constitute "organization" in the GPL distribution context?
From this question:
Is making and using multiple copies within one organization or company
“distribution”?
No, in that case the organization is just making the copies for
itself. As a consequence, a ...
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Does GPL apply to optional and disabled code and no linking
I am using mostly LGPL or compatible libraries, but there's also a few that are available under GPL & compatible only.
I understand that GPL requirements apply to software distribution, in other ...
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Can someone other than the original author contribute downstream changes to an upstream repo?
Let's say we have repo A with a copyleft license like GPL. Let's say someone forks repo A to repo B and creates some modifications. Let's say the owner of B had no intention of contributing their ...
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Understanding PDFtk and GPL license
I work for a local county that will generate our local tax statements for free via a web service consumable by a public URL. For example, the web service would generate and stream the PDF using the ...
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AGPLv3 - Does indirect use over intermediary servers constitute "distribution"?
Let's say I'm building an app consisting of a frontend, backend and database.
The database software is AGPLv3.0 licensed and running on the database server.
The backend is proprietary, running on the ...
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0
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How does commercial GPL software work in practice? [duplicate]
A small independent company develops an innovative product, licensed under GPL. A sizable investment of many months of R&D to bring the initial release, and a non-trivial cost to maintain and ...
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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 ...
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"Modding" GPL Software and using in a multi-part commercial application
Here's my dilemna:
I own proprietary software that generates HTML.
I want my end users to use a GPL v3 open source licensed software that renders HTML in a special GUI. But I want to white label/...
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Are the terms of LGPL 3.0 already covered by GPL 3.0 aggregate definition
Are full terms of LGPLv3.0 already covered by GPLv3.0 section 5 under the terms of an "aggregate"?
A compilation of a covered work with other separate and independent
works, which are not by ...
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Apache License 2.0 compatibility with source code licensed under GPL 2 with classpath exception
I am working on an open-source project that is governed by the Apache License 2.0, and I want to make use of Java source code from OpenJDK 11, which is governed by the GPL 2 license with classpath ...
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GPL and Linking Exceptions
I'm trying to decide on a license for some code I'm going to be open-sourcing shortly, and having a hard time choosing among the major licenses (as less common licenses are things people are not as ...
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Can Non GPL software use GPL code in virtual machine or interpreter
I hope this is the right place to ask these questions. If not please help me find a place so I can safely ask these questions without simply getting an off-topic label. I will describe two situations:
...
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GPL and original author's copyright text in completely rewritten code
I'm about to release my first "big" project on Github, and although I want it to remain open-source and I have no plan of selling it, I want to try to make this licensing stuff right for my ...
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GPL - retaliation instead of restriction? [duplicate]
This question is inspired by the ongoing discussion about Red Hat restricting access to source code repositories.
We all know that you cannot restrict your customer's GPL rights by additional clauses ...
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So the GPL doesn't restrict the creator of the software in any way?
In another thread I started (Red Hat buys Ansible), I am trying to figure out the economic value of a company transaction with respect to GPL'ed software. A few of the answers suggest that the owners ...
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What's the meaning (qualifications) of "machine" in GPL's "machine-readable source code"?
I'm trying to understand what is (not) a "machine" in GPL's "machine-readable source code".
GPL requires you to share (a) the preferred-form-of-the-work-for-making-changes-in-it, ...
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