41
votes
Is it legal to use GPL code in a proprietary, closed-source program by putting it in a separate, standalone program?
IANAL/IANYL. That said, the FSF, who are generally thought of as arguing for a fairly wide interpretation of what the GPL covers, are reasonably clear that the proprietary program and the GPL wrapper ...
- 47k
34
votes
Can I disregard GPL just because I use autoconf?
The exception says that “you may include it”, where it is the build scripts generated by autoconf.
This is not a broad GPL exception that would apply to any GPL-licensed software. The autotools ...
- 38.6k
33
votes
Accepted
Choosing the most restrictive open-source license
There is no free software / open source license that will satisfy your requirements. These licenses generally focus on the freedoms of end users, they are not trying to restrict anyone. The freedom to ...
- 38.6k
26
votes
Accepted
What is the correct term for software whose source code is available only to read?
Source available is a common term used to describe such licenses.
- 1,866
25
votes
Accepted
Can my proprietary app automatically download a GPL-licensed binary?
You could, but I wouldn't bother. Your application invokes a GPLed binary via fork-and-exec, and as we have written many times here (example), that means it's likely a separate work for GPL purposes....
- 47k
23
votes
Can I sell a proprietary software with an LGPL library bundled along with it, without making my source code public?
Yes, you can distribute your software without making the source code public and without giving recipients the right to make changes to your software.
The LGPL license explicitly allows such usages of ...
19
votes
When distributing a Linux kernel driver as source code, what's the difference between Proprietary and GPL license?
Do you customers have any right to modify the source they've been given? Do they have the right to distribute the code without your permission? Do they have the right to distribute modified versions ...
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19
votes
Accepted
Can I sell a proprietary software with an LGPL library bundled along with it, without making my source code public?
You've already got the answer that LGPL libraries can be used in commercial software. So far, so good. There's more to this than meets the eye, though.
The thing is, PySide2 is for using the Qt ...
- 306
18
votes
Accepted
As owner of GPL library, can I break the licensing terms?
Yes indeed, as the sole author (copyright owner) of a library, you are not bound by the terms you choose to license it to the general public.
Thus you can use it in your own proprietary programs.
...
- 5,557
18
votes
May I use AGPL license in a desktop application without providing the source code?
There is a lot of confusion regarding modification. You claim that "The lib's code is just used, not modified." That's a very narrow interpretation of modification. In court, integrating the library ...
- 4,466
18
votes
Accepted
Difference between MongoDB SSPL and GNU AGPL
The AGPL requires that the people interacting with program A over a network have the right (and possibility) to obtain a copy of the source code of A. The AGPL does not strictly define what ...
17
votes
Accepted
Are all docker images free (i.e. GPL)?
Linux (the Kernel) uses the GPL 2.0 with an extra statement:
NOTE! This copyright does not cover user programs that use kernel
services by normal system calls - this is merely considered normal ...
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17
votes
Is it legal to use GPL code in a proprietary, closed-source program by putting it in a separate, standalone program?
The answer is, it depends. If you are introducing the wrapper just to try to avoid the obligations of the GPL, there's a good chance it's not legal.
Whether two works are derivative works of each ...
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16
votes
Accepted
Is it legal for a corporation to "lock in" & restrict usage and redistribution of Open Source software that it has released to it's own services?
If Amazon writes the code, they can release it under any licence(s) they choose, including fully-free and fully-proprietary licences, or not release it at all.
The cognitive disconnect here is that ...
- 47k
16
votes
Accepted
What happens if a company releases third-party confidential code as open source?
Mr. Coyote should talk to his lawyers ASAP. While he was unaware that the code he was using was a copyright violation, he could make a reasonable defense against punitive damages. However, now he is ...
- 18.6k
14
votes
Accepted
How do products like MongoDB not violate the GPL licenses?
MongoDB requires contributors to sign a contributor agreement where they have to waive all rights so that MongoDB can license the code subsequently under whatever license they see fit. That includes ...
- 10.8k
13
votes
Is using MIT-licensed code in non-open source code considered stealing?
For all software libraries, copyright law applies, and you must read and follow the license in order to use it legally. For a MIT licensed code library, if you distribute the resulting package, you ...
- 592
12
votes
Proprietary software made of free software parts
It depends on the license, and also somewhat on the country.
For the BSD and MIT licenses, this is a friendly yes. Your "derivative work" contains a separate copyright interest from the original and ...
- 1,756
12
votes
Accepted
How can a software company cope with more and more customers asking for open source software
Probably not a Politically Correct answer for this site but ...
JUST SAY NO
Of course that isn't going to be enough for your customers, you need to present a good business case for them to continue ...
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12
votes
Accepted
Can I use a proprietary library in my GPL'd program?
The Free Software Foundation's FAQ says this:
I'd like to modify GPL-covered programs and link them with the portability libraries from Money Guzzler Inc. I cannot distribute the source code for ...
- 3,911
12
votes
Can a closed-source software be free
What you describe is usually called freeware.
The FSF does not consider freeware to be free software, considering it to be proprietary software, and asks people not to call free software freeware.
...
- 692
12
votes
Accepted
Proprietary Software + GPL: A case study with OctaneRender and Blender
Your question already contains the relevant analysis, and without knowing details about their protocol there's nothing to add here. So this is a case where the software could be compliant, and is not ...
- 38.6k
11
votes
Use of BSD-3 Clause license and python software license for proprietary use
BSD-3 clause is a very permissive license that does not require you disclosing your source code or the source code of the open source libraries. You are not required to allow your users to re-...
- 2,416
11
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to remove a dependency with a copyleft license from a proprietary project?
Law is complicated and varies by jurisdiction. In the United States (and probably many other jurisdictions), a court generally cannot compel you to release your source code simply because you did not ...
- 35.6k
10
votes
How can a software company cope with more and more customers asking for open source software
Can you share more detail about what your customers really want when they ask if your product can be more open source? There are various open source strategies and depending on what your customers are ...
- 301
10
votes
Accepted
How can the Linux kernel's main.c file say that one of its copyrights is "all rights reserved" when it's GPL?
Copyright and open source are not mutually exclusive. In fact, most open-source licenses depend on copyright in order to function properly. The GPL comes most readily to mind: you couldn't enforce the ...
- 254
10
votes
Accepted
Can Apple require users to accept the Xcode/iOS license to use git?
Apple is generally very good at being on the verge of legality regarding open source / free software. And they have enough lawyers so that I would be really surprised if one found a clear violation.
...
- 5,557
10
votes
Accepted
PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 license is proprietary software?
The PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 license is not a free license as defined by this site. It is a source-available license, and you have a license for distributing the code (e.g. useful for JS of a ...
- 7,079
10
votes
Accepted
Dynamically Linking a Proprietary Module to a GPL-Covered Library (C/C++)
I would like to understand if this project setup complies with the GNU General Public License (GPL). Specifically, I am seeking clarification on whether project Bar, being proprietary and dynamically ...
9
votes
Accepted
Can I sell closed source software which uses some CC BY-NC-SA code?
Unless I've completely misunderstood the question, that would be violating two of the Creative Commons license's restrictions:
That it can only be used in non-commercial contexts
That any derivative ...
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