GNU license question (version 2)
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Hi, I need to develop a commercial use application and I found some code source that is under GNU version 2, license term agreement. For GNU, does it mean that I can incorporate the binary format (the dll) of the code (I didn't modify the source code) into my application without contributing back my application source code ? Thanks
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Hi, I need to develop a commercial use application and I found some code source that is under GNU version 2, license term agreement. For GNU, does it mean that I can incorporate the binary format (the dll) of the code (I didn't modify the source code) into my application without contributing back my application source code ? Thanks
As far as I know using GNU code forces you to label your application GNU too.
protected internal static readonly ... and I wish the list could continue ...
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As far as I know using GNU code forces you to label your application GNU too.
protected internal static readonly ... and I wish the list could continue ...
I beleive that under both GPL and GNU open source liceneces, you must make your source code freely available. Linksys found themselves having to publish the source code for thier router firmware: http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3562391 Hope this helps
Regards Wayne Phipps ____________ Time is the greatest teacher... unfortunately, it kills all of its students View my Blog
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I beleive that under both GPL and GNU open source liceneces, you must make your source code freely available. Linksys found themselves having to publish the source code for thier router firmware: http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3562391 Hope this helps
Regards Wayne Phipps ____________ Time is the greatest teacher... unfortunately, it kills all of its students View my Blog
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But the case is that I doesn't modify their source code, just use it as a dll, and this will lead to open source my part of application code also ?
Yes. There might be a slight hope for you if and only if you only use the library only, and not the source code (including not using any header files), ie maybe if you were doing something like distributing a GPL plug-in dll for your application, you might be safe from open-sourcing your product. Even in that best case scenario, you might still lose, and you definitely would be open to legal problems. More than likely (say you used a library like the GNU Scientific Library, which does things like solve equations, and which has a GPL license), you would have to release your entire product under the GPL license. That means two things. The first is that whenever you give your software to someone, you have to include all the source code (I dont know whether it would include things like associated media files). Secondly, whoever legally obtains your software/source code can redistribute it in original, or modified form (which themselves has to be GPL). Basically, unless you want to have your application be put on Sourceforge, when the first person who buys your software decides to fork your project, (and as someone who makes my living writing OSS, I have to say there are some great, though not always applicable reasons for doing this) DO NOT INCLUDE THAT CODE IN YOUR APPLICATION, either in modified or unmodified form.