Questions tagged [license-compatibility]

License compatibility is the comparison of two or more licenses to determine if certain usages and actions can be made. Use this tag if the question would like to determine the compatibility of licenses, or their individual clauses.

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7 votes
1 answer
2k views

using Open Font License (OFL) in commercial project

I was searching for better fonts and icons and ended up on Google Fonts. I was able to download the fonts for free which were under OFL. According to the included license file, The fonts and ...
5 votes
2 answers
270 views

Licensing compatibility for final user

I'm creating a new self-hosted open source software under the Apache License 2.0, but at some point of the development I figured out that I need an object storage to manage generated files, because I ...
15 votes
5 answers
5k views

Locking myself from ever changing license

Is there any way, that I can lock myself from ever changing the repository license to non open-source one? These is this trend with open-source companies, that once they gain enough press, and enough ...
2 votes
0 answers
29 views

Can I use blazor (MIT) and mysql community (GPL) for commercial purposes? [closed]

If I sell my program in blazor and use mysql community for the data layer... my blazor program would be under the GPL?, that is, would I have to deliver my source code of my blazor made in program?
2 votes
1 answer
33 views

Can I combine MPL-2.0 along with MIT and AGPL-3.0 within the same project?

I'm developing a new project, which uses the following licenses: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │ Package Name License ├───────────...
2 votes
1 answer
42 views

Complex mix of proprietary license and Apache 2.0 license with subfolders

I have a repo in GitHub which contains many different projects, each in its own folder and each folder having its own license. Now at the root of project 5 is a restrictive proprietary license. There ...
4 votes
1 answer
360 views

License requirements for self-contained dotnet (.net) core in embedded linux

I am developing a .net core self-contained application for an embedded linux device. The software is part of the device image and won't be sold standalone nor it is downloadable in binary or source ...
4 votes
1 answer
150 views

Is it open source for allowing people who have access to the source act as if it's open source?

To make a sustainable living, we ask people who want to use our program to choose one of these options before receiving the source: Donate/pay X amount of money Volunteer/work for us for Y tasks If ...
1 vote
1 answer
90 views

License R code when using R packages with different license types

I am navigating licensing, and this is very confusing. I produced a lot of R code to analyze data for a research article that will be published on a peer-reviewed journal. Reading here License for R ...
2 votes
1 answer
81 views

Can I use MPL 2.0 and BSL licensed software for a proprietary repo?

I am building a web application in which I intend to keep the source code private and proprietary. The web application would be used by end users for personal profit. I plan on using Turborepo (https:/...
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

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 ...
9 votes
1 answer
849 views

Can Commons Clause be used along with AGPL?

This article implies that Commons Clause and AGPL could be compatible, while FSF seems to completely disagree with that. Can Commons Clause be applied on a AGPL project? Some have misconstrued that ...
1 vote
0 answers
93 views

Are there any ways to distribute a program compiled from both CPL and AGPL source code?

GSDJVU is a CPL licensed driver for GhostScript (AGPL). According to DjvuLibre, it is legal to download the source code for both and compile them, but not to redistribute the compiled program due to ...
12 votes
4 answers
8k views

Linking from LGPL 2.1 software to Apache 2.0 library

The FSF claims that GPL v2 is incompatible with Apache 2.0 and that linking to a library generally creates a derivative work of this library. However, the linking exception of the LGPL allows ...
3 votes
2 answers
316 views

Am I allowed to statically link a LGPL-2.1+ library into a GPL3-licensed library?

I'm writing a dynamic library that's licensed under GPL 3.0. To simplify distribution, I'd like to statically link as many of the library's dependencies as possible. One of these libraries is licensed ...
11 votes
3 answers
4k views

Can I use a proprietary library in my GPL'd program?

The case of proprietary programs linking to GPL'd libraries has been discussed thoroughly. However the inverse case - a GPL'd program is linking to a proprietary library - is rarely mentioned. ...
3 votes
2 answers
322 views

Finding right license to support open source community only. GPLv3 too strict, LGPLv3 too permissive

I have created an open source library that is designed to be used by other open source projects; not by end users. Currently it is licensed as GPLv3. My main goal is that every project that uses my ...
-2 votes
1 answer
159 views

Publishing an application on play store....licenses and royalties doubts

I've built an Android application in Kotlin, and it uses these libraries : ... implementation "androidx.camera:camera-core:${camerax_version}" implementation "androidx.camera:...
4 votes
1 answer
68 views

Can I publish my SpamAssassin plugin under MIT licence on Github?

I would like to publish my custom SpamAssassin plugin under the MIT licence on GitHub but I am not sure if it is possible. SpamAssassin is licensed under the Apache Licence 2.0 and vast majority of ...
1 vote
2 answers
166 views

FOSS License Compatibility

I have been struggling to understand license compatibility and how it manifests. Two examples: I have a program to which I wrote the codebase. this codebase then dynamically links to two different ...
3 votes
1 answer
183 views

Can I use GNU GPL v3 in my free Android app?

I have created an Android app implementing webview. In the webview, it is loading HTML files from the assets folder. The HTML files (and also associated javascript and css files) are GNU GPL v3 ...
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 ...
1 vote
0 answers
58 views

Seeking a software license to fairly distribute income among open-source contributors, discourage closed-source OS dependency [closed]

I'm looking for a software license, wrapper, or amendment that distinguishes between users of open-source and closed-source operating systems, aiming to balance the efforts of open-source users and ...
3 votes
0 answers
114 views

Should I get rid of "All rights reserved"?

Almost all my open source files has "All rights reserved" written along the usual "copyright © 2XXX My name" in the first line. I recently heard that, besides being obsolete, this ...
51 votes
5 answers
9k views

Can there be a copyright on negative code?

This is a hypothetical question, but I am curious. Feel free to ignore it, when it seems too theoretical for you. Some people may know the situation that you implement a feature and in the end you ...
3 votes
0 answers
140 views

Source and jar without dependencies under MIT, runnable jar with dependencies under GPL

I would like to develop MIT (or Apache 2.0)-licensed software using an LGPL library. As far as I understand this is allowed as long as I'm distributing the library in a separate jar file and loading ...
0 votes
1 answer
130 views

Is the avahi-client license incompatible with its dependency on DBus?

Avahi, including the C client library, is licensed under the LGPL. On my system, (and I believe everywhere) libavahi-client.so.3 links to libdbus-1.so.3. DBus is licensed under a dual license, GPL OR ...
7 votes
2 answers
824 views

Finding valid license for project utilizing AGPL 3.0 libraries

For a new OSS project, I came across the AGPL 3.0 license ("GNU Affero General Public License 3.0") for the first time, and I'm a little unsettled now as to what license I should (and ...
3 votes
1 answer
290 views

Using OpenSSL in Visual Studio project

I have created a project for an application written in c++ that uses OpenSSL to implement encryption algorithms. I posted the project on GitHub, it is currently a private repo. There is an Apache 2.0 ...
2 votes
1 answer
244 views

Do I need to distribute licenses for Python modules used in code that I release but don't directly distribute (i.e. users pip install modules)?)?

I intend to publish the code for my thesis under an appropriate open-source license, such as GPL v3. The code consists of Python and compiled C code that either imports or is statically linked to ...
2 votes
2 answers
88 views

If data published under CC BY 4.0 is aggregated and published on a repository under GPL 3.0, what is the license

Some organization publishes a dataset yearly, under CC BY 4.0, some other organization now aggregates this data into a single dataset, which they post on their github repository that is under the GPL ...
1 vote
2 answers
128 views

Changing the license of a derivative work

Let's say I take a software (Work) distributed under GPLv3 compatible license, and create a Derivative Work. Can I distribute it (the Derivative Work) under GPLv3 license? If not, how can I make a ...
1 vote
2 answers
94 views

Can a .psd file be released with different terms if the resulting HTML template is GPL

In web design, a common workflow exists where a designer creates a web site's theme within Photoshop which is then capable of exporting the design as HTML and CSS. Once granted copyright to the HTML ...
1 vote
1 answer
157 views

License compatibility for proprietary software

I'm making a software project that I will make as a proprietary software, which I will make a business model by providing service support to recipients or customers. In making target software, apart ...
0 votes
1 answer
50 views

BY-SA 4.0 Bulk Compatible Other Licenses likes MIT, BSD3

On the CCL official website, it says BY-SA 4.0 is compatible with FAL and GPL 3.0 (one-way only). Then, is it compatible with other licenses such as MIT and BSD licenses? Other license -> BY-SA 4.0 ...
4 votes
1 answer
467 views

Use of GPL licensed code in unit test source for verifying the operation of non GPL program that analyses source code

Say I have a program (not GPL compatible) that performs static analysis against source code through some pattern matching, similar to a linter. One way I could write unit tests for my program is to ...
3 votes
1 answer
119 views

Is using a script that installs prerequisites from external repositories considered distributing the prerequisites?

I've developed a python project that depends on several open-source packages (e.g., numpy, and pandas). I want to distribute the project to end-users while ensuring the installation process is easy ...
1 vote
1 answer
196 views

License change for Derivative Works of Apache-licensed software, and GPLv2 compatibility

Section 4 of the Apache License v2.0 states: You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and may provide additional or different license terms and conditions for use, reproduction, ...
8 votes
1 answer
982 views

If I add a misrepresentation clause to 3-clause BSD license would it remain GPL-compatible?

I would like to ask whether an otherwise standard 3-clause BSD license would remain GPL compatible if the following 4th clause is added: Altered versions (source code and/or binary) must be plainly ...
4 votes
2 answers
489 views

Why is the zlib license GPL-compatible

I've seen several statements that the zlib license is compatible with the GPL. But this does not seem to be correct. The zlib license contains the following clause: "Altered source versions must ...
2 votes
1 answer
148 views

Can I create a GPL SaaS front-end application with lots of dependencies to Closed Source libraries

There is a GPLv2+ library that I want to use in my front-end SaaS web application The library is a JavaScript library There are lot's of valuable front-end code in my SaaS web application that I ...
6 votes
1 answer
634 views

Can I use LGPL v2 and v3 in the same file of code?

So, I made a program with Pygame and PySimpleGui, both licensed under LGPL. I didn´t modified them, just imported and used them on my code. Well, I heard somewhere that GPL 2 is not compatible with ...
1 vote
1 answer
255 views

May I modify source released under the BSD-2-Clause license and release the result under *only* the BSD-3-Clause license?

I typically release the projects I create under the BSD-3-Clause license, but also don't generally create a project which is "mine" using substantial parts of someone else's code. (...
4 votes
0 answers
176 views

Blender addon interface with non-GPL compatible renderer through OpenGL driver using system library exception?

Why I'm making a 3D rendering addon for Blender which is GPL 2/3 code that needs to communicate with non-GPL compatible library that does the rendering. I need some of this communication to be as fast ...
2 votes
1 answer
166 views

AspectJ Weaver published license clashes with license notice in source code

I am using AspectJ Weaver 1.9.9.1 in a project. Regarding to https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.aspectj/aspectjweaver it is published under EPL 2.0, but when scanning the sources I found org\...
36 votes
3 answers
23k views

If I'm using a GPL 3 library in my project, can I license my project under MIT license?

If I'm using a library that is licensed under GPL v3 in my project, can I license my project under the MIT license? I tried to read the GPL v3 text but I cannot understand it without your assistance.
1 vote
1 answer
201 views

What GPL license to use on a Linux distro

What license should we use on a new linux distribution? I'm new in licensing and this really confuses me. Most "direct" programs, like desktop and the kernel itself, are licensed under GPLv2 ...
4 votes
1 answer
608 views

Which open source licenses comply with the Microsoft Public License?

Clause 3 (D) of the Microsoft Public License says: If you distribute any portion of the software in source code form, you may do so only under this license by including a complete copy of this ...
2 votes
1 answer
246 views

Relicensing a library to GPL when an MIT-licensed program depends on it

I wrote a library and released it under the MIT license. Another developer and I started another project that depends on my library; it is also under the MIT license. I want to relicense my library ...
4 votes
1 answer
81 views

Is a project structure covered by that project's license?

I'm starting to work on a new UI application written in C#, so the MVVM pattern invites itself. However, I have little experience working with it and I need to learn a bit more before I can use it. ...

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