[Lazarus] Concerning GPL compatibility with more permissive licenses

Martin lazarus at mfriebe.de
Sun Jun 30 18:21:19 CEST 2013


On 30/06/2013 16:37, Kenneth Cochran wrote:
> I am working on a mini framework that acts as an abstraction over the 
> Delphi and Lazarus IDE extension APIs. The idea is a single API that 
> can be used to develop extensions for both.
>
> Most or all of the Lazarus source is covered under the GPL. It is my 
> understanding that the GPL requires derivative works (by static 
> linking) to also be open source. Do derivative works necessarily need 
> to be under the same license? I would like to release my framework 
> under a more permissive license to encourage commercial extension 
> authors from the Delphi side to port to Lazarus.
>

Actually, the IdeIntf is LGPL + linking permission.

So, if you only use the IDEIntf (and LCL, RTL)
and do not ship a pre-build IDE with your package included
then you can use any license.

Users can build an IDE with your package, but must publish the build exe 
(if I am right: the GPL used for the IDE, does not restrict what you do 
on your PC, only what you can publish)

The idea always was:
- IDE => GPL, so it stays free, including any forked IDE must be free 
for ever.
- IDEIntf => LGPL, so commercial (or other) plug-ins are possible




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