Questions tagged [gpl]
GNU General Public License
114
questions
28
votes
8
answers
12k
views
Do I really have to Open Source my project?
I'm currently working on a software which uses another software under the GPL version 3 license:
https://github.com/ViaVersion/ViaVersion/blob/dev/LICENSE
Now someone just came to me and said I have ...
- 289
16
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How long does a GPL licencee have to respond to a source code request before it becomes a GPL violation?
I have requested source code for a product that contains software licensed under GPL 2. The product includes a written offer to provide source code if you send a written request by email. The offer is ...
- 161
11
votes
2
answers
762
views
Relicensing software under GPLv2+ without all contributors
I have software licensed under GPLv2, which I would like to relicense under GPLv2+. Unfortunately, I an unable to contact some of the contributors. Can I proceed, or am I stuck?
- 922
10
votes
2
answers
486
views
At what point and how should I change the license/Copyright notice when I create a derivative?
If I take a piece of software that is licensed as MIT (quoted at the end), and use it as a scaffold to create for my own thing, do I need to keep including the old license perpetually? This would seem ...
- 201
9
votes
3
answers
5k
views
GPLv3-licensed project on Github seems to try to restrict commercial use
I found an interesting project (tool for numerical simulations) on Github with the following paragraph in its README:
You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
GNU General ...
- 1,388
7
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Copyright in copyleft licence?
Is the copyright mentioned in GPL v3 used just for the sake of defining the word? (It's not copyrighted, but the word encompasses the same actions that would violate the copyright if it was ...
- 79
7
votes
3
answers
895
views
Who can publish GPLv4?
I was thinking about the or later part that is often used in licensing
software. When reading https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html, I've found
this:
The Free Software Foundation may publish ...
- 173
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Can I bundle Apache 2.0 licensed components in a GPL 3 licensed project?
I am creating a project that I would like to open source and license under the GPL 3 License. The project will come with a bundled version of an open source component which is licensed under the ...
- 383
6
votes
1
answer
319
views
Advantage in being first to copyleft a new algorithm?
Say I have created a new (DSP) algorithm. Will I have some advantage if I open source the algorithm under copyleft licence (GPL etc.)? From what I know about licensing this should lock people out from ...
- 430
5
votes
1
answer
308
views
How to enforce GPL if the copyright holder doesn't have access to the source code of violating software?
I'd like to publish a C library project that I have written on GitHub and license it under GPL, so I am doing some research on open source licenses and some confusion comes to mind.
Let's say Evil ...
- 51
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is it legal for manufacturers to lock bootloaders on Android phones?
Some backgroud :
A bootloader is a very low level piece of software that runs first and loads an operating system of some other tool. On a lot of new Android devices the bootloader is "locked", that ...
- 143
4
votes
1
answer
314
views
Enforcing GPL without copyright
From what I understand the GPL license can only be enforced by the copyright holder.
Therefore, given a scenario like this:
A developer finds an abandoned software project licensed under GPL.
S/he ...
- 143
4
votes
1
answer
291
views
GPL v3 - Do I need to show passwords and secure keys in source
I'm developing in Python using Qt5 (PyQt5), which uses GPL v3 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt).
I understand I need to make the source available, but if I create a separate file secret.py ...
- 143
4
votes
1
answer
343
views
What are the rules for selling my own software that includes other GPLv2 software
I've programmed some software that i wish to sell. BUT i want to sell it "complete" by which i mean as a complete image to be written onto a SD Card (for Raspberry Pi). This means that with my ...
- 143
4
votes
1
answer
239
views
Can I use my own Open Source code in commercial software I'm writing?
If I release some code that I wrote myself with an Open Source license (a WordPress plugin with the GPL2 license, https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html), can I then use my own code in commercial ...
- 143