[OT] Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

[OT] Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

[hz hanks]

Hi, All:

Just a quick question.

Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

Thanks a lot.

Best,
Hanks

[OT] Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

[Bjørn Mork]

hz hanks <hankshz@gmail.com> writes:

> Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

Yes.

See http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0-faq.html for the
answers to your followup questions.


Bj?rn

[OT] Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

[Bernd Petrovitsch]

Hi!

On Don, 2012-11-15 at 10:10 -0800, hz hanks wrote:
[...]
> Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

Everyone can use GPLv2 software "free as in speech" provided it follows
the rules of the GPLv2.
The rights and duties defined by the GPLv2 have absolutely nothing to do
with commercial or non-commercial.
And the opposite of "free software" is "proprietary software". 

BTW are they any non-commercial companies?

	Bernd
-- 
Bernd Petrovitsch                  Email : bernd at petrovitsch.priv.at
                     LUGA : http://www.luga.at

[OT] Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

[Mohammed Gamal]

Hi,
It also depends on what you mean by 'use'. If it is 'using' the GPLv2
code in your commercial software projects then you can not do that
unless your code is also GPL. But if you mean 'use' as in "We are a
graphic design company and we 'use' GIMP for commercial purposes (i.e
making posters, ads ... etc)", then of course you can use it.

Regards,
Mohammed

On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 11:26 PM, Bernd Petrovitsch
<bernd@petrovitsch.priv.at> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> On Don, 2012-11-15 at 10:10 -0800, hz hanks wrote:
> [...]
>> Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?
>
> Everyone can use GPLv2 software "free as in speech" provided it follows
> the rules of the GPLv2.
> The rights and duties defined by the GPLv2 have absolutely nothing to do
> with commercial or non-commercial.
> And the opposite of "free software" is "proprietary software".
>
> BTW are they any non-commercial companies?
>
>         Bernd
> --
> Bernd Petrovitsch                  Email : bernd at petrovitsch.priv.at
>                      LUGA : http://www.luga.at
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Kernelnewbies mailing list
> Kernelnewbies at kernelnewbies.org
> http://lists.kernelnewbies.org/mailman/listinfo/kernelnewbies

[OT] Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

[Bernd Petrovitsch]

Hi!

On Don, 2012-11-15 at 23:34 +0200, Mohammed Gamal wrote:
[...]
> It also depends on what you mean by 'use'. If it is 'using' the GPLv2

Yes - and "use" can mean a lot in that context: From pure in-house usage
(e.g. a CVS server used for a proprietary product) over providing CVS
repos to the outside (e.g. some hypothetical company which just sells
CVS repo access and support) - with or without patching it - up to
(re-)using sourcecode of it (or the complete sourcecode) in some other
own product.
[ List may not be complete;-) ]

So without exact knowing, what they do with it (and what not) in what
way, one cannot write more specific hints than - basically - "follow the
rules of the license".

GPLv2 is actually short and simple enough to be readable and
understandable by not-lawyers.
There are books providing more explanation and - of course - the
Internet is full of discussions about this .....

[ Full quote deleted ]

	Bernd
-- 
Bernd Petrovitsch                  Email : bernd at petrovitsch.priv.at
                     LUGA : http://www.luga.at

[OT] Can a commercial company use software with GPLv2 for free?

[Greg Freemyer]

Mohammed Gamal <m.gamal005@gmail.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>It also depends on what you mean by 'use'. If it is 'using' the GPLv2
>code in your commercial software projects then you can not do that
>unless your code is also GPL.

That is not very clear.

You can write and sell a proprietary program that lives on a linux appliance.  Then sell the appliance for whatever you want.

You can write and sell a proprietary program that uses the system() call to invoke gplv2 programs.

You can write and NOT sell/distribute a proprietary program that links to a GPLv2 library.

You can NOT write a proprietary program that lifts lines of code from gplv2 source and drops it in your code. 

And don't forget LGPL allows linking from commercial software.  That resolves the first NOT above.  A lot of libraries use a LGPL license not a GPL license for that reason.

Greg
-- 
Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.