Peter Verswyvelen wrote:
Although I’m pretty sure GHC can be used for creating a private
inhouse prototype, the prototype might evolve into the final product,
and so my question is, which Haskell compilers & tools can:
(1) be used to build commercial projects
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.
The GHC licence is basically a BSD with attribution. Compiled programs
include the run-time, so you would just have to include the copyright
notice somewhere in your documentation. This would also apply to those
libraries that are shipped with the compiler.
See http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/html/users_guide/License.html.
Other libraries downloaded from Hackage will have their own licenses.
Most are either BSD or GPL. The crucial thing is to read the licenses
*before* including the code. If you want a library that isn't licensed
for closed-source use then contact the author. A polite request,
possibly backed up by an offer of payment, might be all that is required.
(2) be shipped with commercial projects (our project might call into
the interpreter/compiler at runtime…)
See above. GHC has a library interface for doing exactly that.
(3) be indirectly used by commercial projects (in the sense that the
user will have to manually download and install the compiler)
Even less of a problem.
Furthermore, is the Haskell community willing to provide the excellent
help (as in this forum and on IIRC) for commercial Haskell projects?
Well I can't speak for "the community", but personally I want to see
some commercial Haskell successes, and would be willing to provide
support and advice. I think many others would feel the same. Conversely
we'd also like to hear about how your project is going, what works well,
what doesn't, and how it could be improved.
The Haskell motto used to be "Avoid success at all costs". These days
its more like "Success can visit, but make sure he wipes his feet
properly and doesn't steal the silver"
Paul.
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