IANAL, but I'm pretty sure that if you use GPLed code (unless you're
the original author or obtained a non-GPL license from the copyright
holder, which is of course possible) then everything you distribute
with it must be GPL or a compatible license. That means that the
source code must be made available (the library you used plus your
own).
If you change something in the GPLed code and distribute it, then you
must make the modified code (or at least a patch) available under the
GPL, too. Basically, everything that contains some GPL code must be
GPL, too, at least if it's distributed.
With the LGPL it's different -- you can use LGPL libraries and
distribute them with your (proprietary) code. However, I'm not sure if
it would have to be a separate SWF "linked" (i.e., loaded in to your
main SWF) or if it could be compiled into your project directly. This
question came up before, but I don't recall an answer to that
question.
The good thing is that you can make your code available under the GPL
and still sell it commercially to those who want to use it in
proprietary projects ("dual licensing").
I don't know any details about the MPL, but it doesn't seem to be
compatible with the GPL. There's an interesting posting about this
from the Gnash list:
<http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnash/2006-01/msg00185.html>
When in doubt, ask the author.
Hth,
Mark
On 5/30/06, Darren Cook <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I've been looking at AnimationPackage [1], and realized I don't fully
> understand the MPL license. I found [2] which seems to say MPL can
> co-exist with other licenses but I have to deliver the source code; and
> I think having to deliver the code is the only difference from BSD/MIT?
>
> But I'm still confused how licenses affect flash files; I'll introduce
> my question with a made-up situation... bear with me.
>
> Lets say I write some clever software for a client that makes flash
> files from data taken from a database. Perhaps they are screensavers, or
> virtual pets, or animated birthday cards. Maybe for PCs, or maybe for
> mobile phones. In addition to various tools (where I believe the license
> does not matter) I use some open-source actionscript libraries; I don't
> modify the libraries, just use them.
>
> My client is going to sell these to its members: either for a monthly
> subscription fee, or a fee per flash file. [As a side question, does it
> matter which of those two business models?]
>
> The software I deliver will be installed on my clients server. I.e. they
> will install all those OS tools/libraries. I'll give them all source
> code I wrote and they will own all code that isn't open source (i.e.
> it'll be an asset on their books).
>
> And finally to my question: what does my client have to give its
> customers? They fill out a form and download an swf. Is my client
> obliged to:
> a) Tell the customer what open source libraries were used in that swf?
> b) Give customers a download link to those OS libraries?
> c) Give customers a download link to the proprietary code I wrote
> specially for my client?
>
> I've always assumed that even if the libraries I used are GPL that the
> answer to all of those is no, but I may be wrong. What about MPL?
>
> Now, what about if I've modified one of the open source libraries? (And
> for the sake of argument assume the patch was rejected by the OS project
> in question as not general purpose enough.) Is it enough that I give my
> client all source code? Or has the client suddenly become obligated to
> tell their customers about it? And if so, for which licenses?
>
> Thanks for reading this far,
>
> Darren
>
>
> [1]: http://www.alex-uhlmann.de/flash/animationpackage/
>
> [2]: http://www.croftsoft.com/library/tutorials/gplmpl/
>
> _______________________________________________
> osflash mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
>
--
http://snafoo.org/
key: 1BD689C0 (3801 6F51 4810 C674 1491 ADE7 D8F6 0203 1BD6 89C0)
_______________________________________________
osflash mailing list
[email protected]
http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
