My understanding is that's not quite true. The client libraries are
GPL, so you can't use them directly, but I don't see what would stop
you using their ODBC/JDBC drivers with your non-GPL application
(especially if you support other ODBC databases as well). The server
can't be bundled in your application, but you can still get the user
to install it and use it with your application.
According to the MySQL license info (
http://www.mysql.com/about/legal/licensing/commercial-license.html ):
When your application is not licensed under either the GPL-compatible
Free Software License as defined by the Free Software Foundation or
approved by OSI, and you intend to or you may distribute MySQL software,
you must first obtain a commercial license to the MySQL product.
Typical examples of MySQL distribution include:
*
*Selling software that includes MySQL* to customers who install
the software on their own machines.
*
Selling software that *requires customers to install MySQL
themselves *on their own machines.
*
Building a hardware system that includes MySQL and selling that
hardware system to customers for installation at their own locations.
It sure sounds like if your application uses MySQL and you sell your
software (I presume this would include online services that charge for
use of the site and that site runs MySQL under the hood), you have to
buy a commercial license, and you can't get around it just by not
directly distributing MySQL and having your customer install it separately.
Way off topic for PG, though, which has a great OSS license in BSD.
David
