Re: wxWindows library license infected by GPL?
David Akdikmen wrote: We are wondering about the wxWindow license. We like to develop a commercial application using this toolkit. We are worried that the exceptions listed under the license will be voided by the viral effect of the GPL license. You mean the exceptions listed at http://www.opensource.org/licenses/wxwindows.php I presume? According to that text, wxWindows is licensed under the Library GPL with one exception. The exception is that you may use, copy, link, modify and distribute under the user's own terms, binary object code versions of works based on the Library. Normally you have to supply at least the source code of the Library to those you distribute binaries to. Are the exception notice invalidated by the GPL? So we would have to GPL the rest of our application if we use wxWindows in it? If what you have received as 'wxWindows' is in fact the code licensed under this license, you have nothing to do with the GPL. Someone might have incorporated GPL-licensed code in the work without telling anybody, in which case he has violate the wxWindows license (see article 3). Such code may not be distributed by anyone. I do not see how such an act could result in your code having to be licensed under GPL. You may have to stop distributing your application until you have replaced the offending code though, but that's always a risk when using third party code. Arnoud -- Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch patent attorney - Speaking only for myself Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/ -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3
Re: wxWindows library license infected by GPL?
We are wondering about the wxWindow license. We like to develop a commercial application using this toolkit. We are worried that the exceptions listed under the license will be voided by the viral effect of the GPL license. 1. The GPL license is not viral. It is not POSSIBLE to write a viral license, even if you try, because such a thing is not permitted under copyright law. That is, no one can force you pick a license. All I can do is say that you can use my work under such and such conditions. If you don't comply with those you have to either stop using my work without permission or comply with my terms. There is a difference here. The GPL never forces you to use the GPL. You always have the choice to just not use my work. Even if you have already begun distributing work that illegally copies my GPL code, your work does not become GPL. But you might get a letter from my lawyer telling you to stop. 2. The point is moot, because wxWindows is not GPL. Are the exception notice invalidated by the GPL? No. Suppose I release my work under a license that says GPL + the following exeptions. Then my work is not being released under the GPL. It is being released on a different license. Furthermore, wxWindows' license is not even based on the GPL to begin with. It is based on the LGPL which is designed to permit libraries to be used on closed-source projects. So we would have to GPL the rest of our application if we use wxWindows in it? No. wxWindows is already frequently used on closed-source applications. Given your misunderstanding of the GPL and the wxWindows license, I would guess that you probably think that the GPL requires you to give out your application for free. A lot of people think that. This is not true. You say commercial as if the GPL could only be used on non-commercial software. You are always allowed to charge money for the software. The GPL simply stipulates the terms of distribution of the software. You might argue that the GPL makes it difficult to charge a very large ammount for software because people will be tempted to just make their own copies. This is correct. But it is an orthogonal issue. Not to be confused with the actual terms of the GPL. Best, Daniel. -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3
