Can I use GPL, LGPL, MPL licensed packages with my application and make it closed source?

Question

I saw a company is using BusyBox and also using Gpl + Lgpl + Mpl packages on it, and then they have there own application running on it. Their application is a closed source package.

You buy the device but its closed source. How come GPL mixed with LGPL+MPL becomes closed source?

I thought the rule is?? Or I am wrong or this following info is wrong?:

GPL: If you use it in your application then you must release your application under the GPL. That doesn't mean you can't also sell it (like they sell Linux CD's) but you must also release the source code for free. That might work for you, but probably not.

LGPL: If you use it in your application then you can still have a closed source proprietary licensed application. But if you modify the LGPL library then you must release your modifications under the LGPL, even though your application can remain closed source.

Answer 1

It is perfectly all right to sell an "aggregrate" of closed-source and open-source software according to the GPL FAQ. If the company compiled a Linux, built their own program on top of it using only LGPL libraries, and sold the resulting product while publishing all GPL/LGPL sources with it, they are not violating the GPL.

The point here is: The GPL does not extend to programs simply running on the same computer and communicating/interacting with the closed-source program. An open-source window manager like BusyBox is of course allowed to manage closed-source windows. As a rule of thumb, the GPL reaches as far as the address space of the licensed code.

Answer 2

IANAL, but this is what I've learned. I would be very interested to know if any of it is incorrect:

LGPL: If you statically link it it in your application and you distribute the compiled application then you must release the source under the GPL to anyone who receives the binary.

Answer 3

There are clear cases and then some muddy one for which you'll get more opinion that lawyers you present the case.

Your rules match my understanding, but what will vary is the precise definition of "use". The copyright system on which the license is based isn't about "use" but about "creating a derived work" and some will argue with good arguments that a system made of different programs may be such that the different programs are tied enough that the whole system is a derived work of any one of them while another single program dynamically linked to a library isn't a derived work of the library because the library implement a clearly defined protocol and could be replaced (I've seen libreadline used in such a way with a simple GPLed wrapper to match an application provided interface). Ask your lawyer for advice specific to your case. See you before the judge if the one of the copyright holder isn't of the same opinion.

Answer 4

^{(This answer was not intended for this question, but for a more specific one about git, and covers its specific case in greater detail than this question would practically allow. See comment 599873 for more info. It'll stay here in this form at least until the matter is resolved.)}

• Git is covered by GPLv2.
• Generally, if you have any questions on FSF's licensing, the way to go is
  • the license itself (it's not some doorstopper and is quite conprehensible. The time invested in learning it will repay tenfold.)
    • do keep in mind though that for GPLv2 (as opposed to v3), a few terms are taken from the US law and thus aren't defined in the text. (Indeed, they also turned out to mean slightly different things in different jurisdictions, but FSF didn't report this to be a serious problem)
  • FSF FAQ on their licenses, specifically, a FAQ on GPLv2,
  • other related materials on the web, including FSF facilities; watch for their authority though
  • as a last resort (short of a lawyer), FSF itself (they aren't a law firm, of course, so they will only give you general commentary without regard to jurisdiction - as are they free to ignore a request. My practice says they do reply to reasonable inquiries that are not already answered elsewhere, although it can take a while).

---

• In your case, the related materials are:
  • GPLv2#section2:

    b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.
    <...>
    These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.
    
    Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or collective works based on the Program.
    
    In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this License.

  • GPLv2 FAQ #NFUseGPLPlugins:

    It depends on how the program invokes its plug-ins. If the program uses fork and exec to invoke plug-ins, then the plug-ins are separate programs, so the license of the plug-in makes no requirements about the main program.

So, you cannot make your work "contain" git but you can include it as a separate entity that your work uses. VMWare's example shows that the latter includes packaging it into the distribution or a compound file within the distribution (an ISO image it was).

What's the distinction? It took me a while to come to a conclusion. In the end, the paragraph "it is not the intent... to claim rights... rather... to control the distribution of derivative or collective works based on the Program" convinced me that the distinction is if the resulting work is considered a derivative of the GPL'ed part under copyright law. With this last one, GPL can't help you - you need to consult applicable copyright law or follow in another's footsteps.

• Specifically, VMWare Server's example shows that it's okay to include the object code into your distribution and
  • install it alongside your program
  • pack it into a compound file within its footage if it's clearly a compound file and can be taken apart with widely available tools (an ISO image)
• However, you cannot distribute the source inside your installer - unless users have no problem taking it apart, too

Answer 5

GPL is NOT compatible with closed source. If they used GPL-licensed packeges/modules and closed the source, in the general case they would be in violation of the GPL conditions.