Rev/Livecode project and GPL Licenses

[Chip Thomas]

Thanks Scott, and as I understand it, "links" means that you compile an app that links to the GPL library so the two in effect become one codebase.

With LiveCode, your compiled app would have no "linkage" to the GPL library, but would be distributed alongside it, and the communication would occur through command line, in which case they are two separate applications, without compiled links in the technical sense.

The ramifications of this are that if the GPL license allows you to commercially distribute a LiveCode app and GPL code, as long as the two are not linked, this means LiveCode developers can tap into the many powerful GPL code libraries out there while doing so legally and ethically.


On Apr 14, 2011, at 9:49 PM, Scott McDonald <runrevplanet at smpcs.server101.com> wrote:

> I looked into this a while back and my understanding was:
> 
> * If you link to a library released under the GPL terms, then you cannot
> sell your product commercially.
> 
> * But if the library is released under the LGPL terms (which are different),
> then it is OK to sell your product commercially.
> 
> * If your software uses a GPL library that is hosted on a server then that
> is fine for commercial software.
> 
> * But if your user needs to download the GPL software (or you want to
> include it in your download bundle) then your product cannot be sold
> commercially if it links to it.
> 
> As mentioned above these are just my conclusions, and I am not a lawyer.
> 
> -----
> --
> Scott McDonald
> "Components, Controls, Tools and Resources for LiveCode"
> www.runrevplanet.com
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