Questions tagged [licensing]
Questions about the implementation of software licenses on software. Note that for questions on open source licenses there is https://opensource.stackexchange.com, where those questions often fit better. See the full description for more information about which questions are on topic.
-2
votes
0answers
26 views
When distributing a Linux kernel driver as source code, what's the difference between Proprietary and GPL license?
The company I work for is selling PCIe cards. I' am writing the Linux driver for it as a Linux kernel module.
When selling these PCIe cards, we give along the Linux kernel driver as source code. ...
-4
votes
2answers
29 views
How to use open source project under the GNU Affero General Public License [on hold]
I have a web api which requires json schema validation so i found the Newtonsoft Json Shema (under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License )
I integrated this project in web api with some ...
2
votes
2answers
89 views
Would forking the following repo violate QT free license?
I want to fork and modify the following a repository on github.
The license for this repository is MIT. The codebase uses QT.
When I go to download QT free version, it says it is limited to LGPL ...
-3
votes
0answers
33 views
How to add copyright and licence when using others libraries [on hold]
I develop simple software that uses some other open source libraries like HyperSQL. I am going to licence my project under the MIT licence. When I see the licence of the HyperSQL It said,
...
41
votes
1answer
3k views
Altering author names in MIT license [closed]
Some years ago I wrote and released some software under the MIT license.
Recently I noticed that one (or some?) of the forks have altered the leading copyright notice at the top of the license, i.e.
...
1
vote
1answer
93 views
Are there accepted alternatives to having boilerplate (e.g. copyright, OSS, xport ctrl, classification) in the sourcecode itself?
An increasing amount of effort is being put in keeping company code "boilerplate" header up-to-date according to classifications and templates from an external application, leading to "source code ...
0
votes
1answer
139 views
Is a GPL libary for MATLAB considered free software? [closed]
I would say no, because a MATLAB licence is required to run the software, but this point isn't completely clear to me.
EDIT: This was a terminology question, not a request for legal advice.
-2
votes
1answer
41 views
How to identify an organization for license management purposes for an Windows application?
To introduce some license levels (organization, computer, user), I need to pinpoint information that identifies the object (organization, computer, user) without user interaction.
To identify the ...
1
vote
1answer
117 views
Can i change apache license owner to our company name?
Our previous developer set his name in the license of our open source project.
Thats how license header looks:
Copyright (c) 2018 (his name), Stichting (our company name) <(his email)>
Can we ...
-1
votes
2answers
153 views
If I use .Net Core 2.0 my software must by open software? [closed]
If I use .Net Core 2.0 my software must by 'open software' or what?
Sorry for my English.
-3
votes
1answer
176 views
How to revive an abandoned LGPL project? [closed]
There is an LGPL open source code in SourceForge that is quite useful, but entirely abandoned. I can see that the community struggles with code issues, but the original developer does not respond to ...
3
votes
2answers
138 views
What Software Delivery Guidelines are appropriate when outsourcing?
I started working at a very small company that regularly (not too often) has to outsource some software developments. The external suppliers than have to deliver something.
As I now have seen is that ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views
Logic circuit simulation: homebrew or third party solution?
Software I'm working on requires simulation of logic circuits, both combination and sequential.
Now the simulation doesn't need to be too detailed, in fact it could be detrimental to the function of ...
0
votes
1answer
146 views
AGPL - passwords in code
I'm looking at putting up a fan site for an author using code released under the AGPL. Under the AGPL, as I understand it, I would need to publish my code modifications. This is entirely fine.
...
-3
votes
1answer
66 views
I want to sell web app and share source code but not to be redistributed. How do I do that?
I want to sell web app to be hosted internally and share source code with that specific client but not to be redistributed(commercially or non-commercially) to outside the office.
They can edit and ...
-1
votes
1answer
35 views
Distribution with CDDL dependency in case of intellij
I have an amateur question with respect to CDDL 1.0 License.
This link provides a list of all the open source software used by intellij idea. The one in relevance now for this ticket is: WADL-core ...
1
vote
0answers
41 views
Can GPLv3+ library be used as a component of a larger, LPGLv3+ library [duplicate]
The question is in the title. My guess is that the answer is "No", but I would appreciate confirmation.
This page mentions as a downside of the Lesser GPL that using it permits use of the library in ...
0
votes
2answers
164 views
To what extent can you use LD_PRELOAD to circumvent the GPL?
I'm not exactly sure what the history behind this, but Debian and Ubuntu currently wraps around some of the PostgreSQL utilities with something called pg_wrapper. This utility uses LD_PRELOAD to ...
1
vote
0answers
53 views
Are squash-merges compatible with the Developer Certificate of Origin?
The Developer Certificate of Origin appears to be widely used in open source at this point, including support at GitHub and use by GitLab community edition.
In accepting a pull request, many folks (...
0
votes
0answers
110 views
Is there a reason to use the Windows registry to store license info, if we aren't concerned with hiding anything?
I've read answers to the following:
Why is Windows registry needed?
However I am curious about how this might apply to the practice of storing software license keys. I've seen developers store ...
13
votes
2answers
439 views
If I am late to commit a software license to a repo, are all previous commits unbound from the license?
Suppose I have a private project with 100 commits. I don't add a software license until the 101st commit. If I make the project open source, does that mean all first 100 commits are unbound by the ...
-1
votes
1answer
68 views
Is modification allowed if license does not mention it? [closed]
I recently came across this license agreement on software:
Personal Use License
The content owner grants the buyer a non-exclusive, perpetual, personal use
license to view, download, display,...
2
votes
1answer
300 views
With source code lost, can the binary be released as MIT without it? [closed]
I preserve old software by asking copyright owners (often one author) to release the source code under an Open Source License, GPL or MIT. In many cases the source is gone, but the binaries still ...
-1
votes
1answer
64 views
How to include BSD licensed component in my project
I want to use a software which is licensed under the BSD, in my project.
I come up with two ways.
I create a directory for this component and copypaste the original LICENSE.txt file in this ...
3
votes
3answers
821 views
Can I include a GPL v3 binary with my proprietary application if I prompt the user to download it at install time?
I have a proprietary application that I want to distribute and sell. The application uses a GPL v3 licensed binary/library.
Since I don't want to distribute the source of my application and also want ...
-3
votes
1answer
115 views
Upload MIT-licensed code to maven repository [closed]
I found some java source code under MIT license on Github, but it is not included in any maven repository. I asked in issue to publish it somewhere, but nobody answered and looks like this repo is not ...
-3
votes
1answer
115 views
copyright. All rights reserved. Can I share this file in github?
I want to add some example projects to my repository. However, I have some files with copyright notice. The disclaimer says owned by Xilinx, use at own risk, don't delete copy right notice.
It ...
7
votes
1answer
270 views
If you manage a BSD-licensed open source project, how do you guard against someone illegally contributing GPL-licensed code?
An open source project licensed under BSD, MIT or another permissive license accepts code contributions from the community.
How can I prevent someone from taking GPL-licensed code that they don't own ...
-5
votes
1answer
119 views
Can I use my own software with a different license from that one used to make it public? [closed]
I ask because I found no answer to this, maybe because is too obvious (I think there is no thing like "legally obvious").
Imagine that I make a small library (DLL) or a styling template (CSS) or ...
2
votes
0answers
36 views
proper presentation of multiple (compatible) licenses that inspired a single source file
I am developing a BSD 3-clause library. In the root of the repository, I have the full license text, and at the top of each file something like
/* This file is part of <project name>, ...
1
vote
1answer
2k views
How do I use an Apache 2.0 licensed library in my commercial Android app? [duplicate]
I am using a library which is licensed under Apache 2.0 in my commercial Android app. I took a look on the Apache license FAQ on the official Apache homepage (https://apache.org/foundation/license-faq....
3
votes
2answers
261 views
Are you supposed to fork a repo if you're porting it to another language?
I'm new to forking and open source and I'm porting a Rust library into Swift but I wasn't sure if I needed to fork the original repo and then replace it with my new files or just upload my own repo ...
-2
votes
1answer
63 views
GNU license and hosting source code
Currently working with a client and their lawyers to launch a web application.
The website will be hosted in AWS on Debian Linux instances.
Debian contains (among others) the GNU General Public ...
-2
votes
1answer
72 views
Licensing of classifier tool trained on open data [closed]
The broad question is: how are the licensing terms for a classifier that is trained with open annotated data (or manually annotated) data?
I am trying to train a dependency parser for German text ...
0
votes
0answers
68 views
What danger is there in publishing an open source project on GitHub without including a license [duplicate]
If I publish a repo on GitHub that is public (and therefore "open source" because anyone can see and use that code), but I do not include any license at all, what does that imply legally? Is there any ...
1
vote
1answer
487 views
Understanding application licenses when using third party libraries in an android project
I'm developing an app for the 2nd time but it's the first time i'm using third party libraries in my application. One of the libraries seems to have an MIT license and the other is the android ...
0
votes
1answer
312 views
Gnuplot in commercial online/offline applications [closed]
Gnuplot seems to be one of the rare applications with the level of perfection in rendering graphics (will be glad to know if any competitor exists to this level).
My question is related to the ...
1
vote
2answers
118 views
Contributions of a problematic team member to an open source project [closed]
I'm currently coordinating the development of a software for a certain scientific computational task. The developers are all working on the project on a voluntary basis. Our goal is to publish the ...
1
vote
0answers
74 views
Allow Third Party Access to Source Code without right to redistribute or sell [closed]
I am in a situation where a client is asking that I develop a custom software product for them. They've asked that I subcontract under another party that they have worked with before. In reading the ...
-3
votes
2answers
220 views
Can I distribute binaries of my GPLv3 software? [closed]
I have licensed my software under GPLv3 and made it available on Github as an open source repository.
Am I allowed(under GPLv3) to distribute binary releases of the application so it is easier to use ...
-7
votes
1answer
58 views
Work under GPL without license version number [closed]
I understand that I should consult a lawyer for this if this is is an important matter, but since it is not, I am just going to ask here.
What are the legal implications if one distribute their work ...
-3
votes
1answer
148 views
Do I need a dedicated “LICENSE” file when license is specified elsewhere
npm packages have a standard way to define which license an uploaded package is licensed under. In the package.json there is a field called license which should contain a SPDX license id.
Is there ...
1
vote
2answers
204 views
Do I need to put a license in my website's HTML and/or CSS?
I am making a website for a competition my school is taking part in, however I am not on the team and am not receiving any compensation (save for better references :P). The only condition I have set ...
-1
votes
2answers
77 views
second license dedicated to one person [closed]
There is a project on github which is GPL-3 licensed. I want to use this code for my commercial project, but I don't want to open my codes. So, I contacted with the developer to check if she can ...
0
votes
1answer
201 views
Where should I place a license?
I'm creating a site for commercial needs, for myself or for sales. In them, I'll use the Laravel framework. Laravel is licensed under the MIT license. The MIT license tells to me:
The above ...
-4
votes
1answer
162 views
GPLv2 licensed COM objects called in a commercial application [closed]
I have a legacy application that works with DirectShow filters installed in the system, these are essentially treated as COM components and not directly linked or distributed with the application. If ...
-2
votes
1answer
66 views
What kind of license/copyright is this? Can I use this in a GPLv3 licensed project? [closed]
I intent to release my code under the GPLv3 license. No problem to do this, until I came upon a 3rd party file. Their owners have the following statement in it (and no other statement regarding ...
-4
votes
1answer
406 views
Licensing: Boost library distributed with my MIT-licensed code [closed]
I want to release some C++ code under MIT license in GitHub. I would like to include required BOOST libraries in the repository. No commercial use is currently foreseen. I am pretty new to IP issues, ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
Distribute small-scale software
A friend has asked me to write a small software program for his own purpose. I haven't started it yet but am thinking about how to distribute it. I mean, there are licensing, encryption and things ...
2
votes
1answer
210 views
Using Qt in Open Source App that Communicates with Closed Source Hardware
Preface
I'm having trouble determining if I can use the Qt framework for developing a cross platform desktop app.
Situation
The app is open source, and the libraries it uses are also open source.
...
