Haufig gestellte fragen zur gnu gplv2 free software foundation. The ethics of selling gpled software for the iphone slashdot. It does not prevent the sale of derivative software or its. If that commercial application is what youre selling, then youre giving a copy of that software in exchange for money. The question is, why would someone buy it, if presumably, they can get it for free. However, the secret formula for software is the source code and the gpl requires that any software licensed under the gpl be accompanied by a copy of the source code. Sell copies of the program for money, distribute commercially. Of course, it isnt free enough for a open source read proprietary software peon like. Its perfectly legal to sell a modified version of gpl at least v2, im not as familiar with v3 software. Hello, software licensed under gpl can be modified and used locally on your machine as you wish.
The software is free to be used in other gpl licensed software, however, to use it in proprietary applications you have to buy a license from the original developer. However, once you go to distribute it, you must release. Top 10 gnu gpl license questions answered whitesource. I want to encourage free software to spread, replacing proprietary software that forbids cooperation, and thus make our society better. The only issue that might arise is independent from the gpl and is simply a matter of logicpsychology. Hardware with gpl firmware open source stack exchange. Yes, the gpl license allows users to sell the original as well as the modified software.
The gpl says that modified versions, if released, must be licensed to all third parties. Redistribution for free or for profit is specifically allowed, as long as the. If you include your own kernel modules which is a very. Some devices are designed to deny users access to install or run modified versions of the. The agpl makes straightforward commercial sense we use it. In selling exceptions, the same code that the exception applies to is available to the general public as free software, stallman writes. If we were to a refactor the code to make it flexible so that it would allow any user for dynamically plugging their own sets of machine learning models they train and a modified version of the database. Modified gpl, gmgpl is a version of the gnu general public license specifically modified for compiled units and for the generic feature found in the. Can gnu licensed software be used for commercial gain. The reason most authors release a library or other software under the gpl is because they want others who benefit from the use of their code to release their code in the same fashion. The distribution rights granted by the gpl for modified versions of the work are not unconditional. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu. Frequently answered questions open source initiative. In simplistic terms, ive always considered gpl to mean.
The gnu general public license is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works. However, you must still comply with the terms of the license you must offer the source code. Since gpl requires providing access to source code, and agplv3 section is an additional condition specifically added to plug the loophole in saaslike software, does not it imply that agplv3 also. There wereare companies selling cdsdvds of unmodified linux distros, and modified one is as good. Richard stallman wrote about the practice of selling license exceptions to free software licenses as an example of ethically. For example, if you write some software and release it under the gnu general public license a widelyused copyleft license, and then someone else modifies that software and distributes their modified.
The certification program provides corporations with the assurances they require when building products upon a free software infrastructure. A copyleft license permits embedding in a larger program only if the whole combined. If the software is known by name abc, can i change the name of software to xyz. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or gpl is a series of widely used free software. In the technological field, gpl means general public licence. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu project. Thats the basic reason why the gnu general public license is written. Some views on the ideas of selling exceptions to free software licenses, such as the gnu gpl are also available many people believe that the spirit of the gnu project is that you. Applidium made the full source code to the modified version publicly available. On selling exceptions to the gnu gpl free software. Modified source and binary distribution in this chapter, we discuss the two core sections that define the rights and obligations for those who modify, improve, andor redistribute gpld software. Freie software verkaufen gnuprojekt free software foundation. The terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification of gimp are clearly listed in the gnu general public license. For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all.
Marco fioretti answers a techrepublic members questions about charging fees for software thats made available under the gnu gpl. The fsf started out selling copies of tapes with emacs on them, and then later whole cd collections of free software, including a mixture of gpl and nongpl code. Does the gpl allow me to sell copies of the program for money. Have you ever used gpl library for writing nongpl software.
Why the gpl is incompatible with commercial software. Advocates of the gnu general public license gnu gpl like to perpetuate the idea that programs released under it are free as in speech, not free as in beer. Gpl software certification program free software foundation. Does the gpl require that source code of modified versions be posted to the public. Can you take an open source software, modify it and sell it if the. This is explained in subsections 6a and 6b of the gpl. This may include changing the logo, name on the ui. Marketing gpl 3 software open source stack exchange.
Selling exceptions depends fundamentally on using a copyleft license, such as the gnu gpl, for the free software release. You may copy, distribute and modify the software as long as you track changesdates of in source files and keep modifications under gpl. Selling free software gnu project free software foundation. You can make perfectly fine business selling gpl software, its just that it. Releasing software without the gpl will let anyone convert, with minor modifications, a software from public domain to proprietary. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or gpl is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software. The gpl protects the average users freedom to run, study, modify and distribute software. Your changes would be a derivative work and covered by section 5.
How does the gpl affect the licensing and selling of software. If the company simply deploys unmodified or even modified free software throughout the organization for its employees to use, the obligations under. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or simply gpl is a widely used open source software license, originally written by richard stallman for the gnu project. Read free software, free society or the gpl for more. Selling software subject to the gpl license in download form answered by. If your zip contains a modified gpl program you are only required the release the source to that modified gpl program, not your own code. The mere fact that a piece of userspace software makes system calls to the gpllicensed kernel does not impose gpl requirements on that software. You are allowed to sell copies of the modified program commercially, but only. The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it. If the original work and a modified work are both software, i see no. The main selling point of gpl over other licenses is your code can be freely modified by anyone, and even redistributed by anyone, but any public release of any version of your software by. The software that is developed under open platform is distributed under the term entitled gpl. Where in the constitution is it written that tax money should be used to. The source code for the arduino environment is covered by the gpl, which requires any modifications to be opensourced under the same license.