Re: People who develop with MySQL and/or other GPL based code
Re: People who develop with MySQL and/or other GPL based code
- Subject: Re: People who develop with MySQL and/or other GPL based code
- From: Karl Kuehn <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:45:13 -0500
Here is the quick breakdown of the GPL:
If your program 'links' to GPL code and you distribute it (lots of
details here that I will gloss over) you must provide anyone who asks
for it the source code, free of charge (or distribution costs only).
This effectively kills using full GPL code as a part of a commercial
program.
Most programs that use MySQL do not directly link to MySQL, but rather
link to the MySQL connector (client library). Previously this connector
was LGPL (which allows linking to a closed-source program, but any
changes to the library code must be released back), but the recent
version of MySQL have moved this to a full GPL. You can still roll your
own client library for MySQL, use the older code, or buy one from
MySQL.com or other third parties, but this is a wrench in the works.
If you are looking at selling a database solution, and were looking at
MySQL, I would recommend looking at PostgreSQL (www.PostgreSQL.com).
Very competitive with MySQL, and under a BSD license, so you only have
to acknowledge that you are using it in the proper manner, and then you
are free to distribute it however you would like, at any cost.
Karl Kuehn
email@hidden
On Dec 22, 2003, at 8:32 PM, Dave Garaffa wrote:
I've got a question ... all be it not exactly (or at all) a
programming related one but more of a legal one...
MySQL is GPL correct?
My understanding is that any/all programs that uses GPL code (even the
client lib as wrapped by the cocoa sourceforge project) are REQUIRED
to make their source code (ALL OF IT) available as well... unless you
make other arrangements with the developers of said GPL code. (pay for
individual licenses for each distribution of the code you)
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