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Licenses of libs which can be used in commercial application

 
Greenhorn
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Hi!

I am working on java project which will be closed-source, commercial application. There are menu very useful third-party libraries which can be used in my application, but I do not know which libraries I can use because of possible license violations.
I am wondering is there a list of software licenses which can be used in commercial projects.
If such list does not exist, can we make one?

For beginning, I know (correct me if I am wrong) that libraries with these licenses can be used in commercial, closed-source applications:
1. Apache2 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
2. LGPL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html)
3. MIT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_License)

I think that closed-source software cannot use GPL licensed libraries? Am I correct?

Thanks,
Marjan
 
Marjan Stojnev
Greenhorn
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What about these licenses?

  • Bouncy Castle License
  • Mozilla Public License
  • BSD License
  • Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) v1.0
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    Rancher
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    Why are you considering open source licenses for a closed-source product?
     
    Java Cowboy
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    If you're working for a company, then you should probably let the lawyers of your company decide what is acceptable and what isn't. You can get into a lot of trouble if you, as a lay person who doesn't really understand the details of the law, decide to use some library in the product that your company sells, when somebody later discovers that you are breaking the license in some way. Your company might get sued. This is especially true if you are going to make a software product that you are going to sell (i.e. some piece of software that you are selling to customers).

    Some licenses let you do almost anything, and some require you to make your source code and the source code of the libraries you are using available (such as the GPL). (Note that I am also not an expert on this - I'm not responsible if you make decisions based on what I say about this).

    On almost any product that I've worked on, for many different companies, I've used many open source libraries and tools. Almost all of that software was custom software, specifically written for the specific client, who gets the rights and responsibilities over the source code and software that I wrote.

    So, it isn't as simple as making a list here. You have to carefully read each license and if you have any doubts consult a lawyer that can explain you exactly what your rights and responsibilities are according to the license, for your particular goal.
     
    Marjan Stojnev
    Greenhorn
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    Thanks for quick answer, Jasper

    Yes, I am working for company and we will sale our software.
    I understand that there is large number of licenses which can or can not be used in commercial software. Your answer is correct in that way - only the lawyer can know why.

    But I try there to complete an list of "common, opensource" licenses which can be used for this "commercial" purpose with no doubt that anyone who use this libraries can be suited because of license violation.

    I know that there are much more licenses which can not be in this list, but if we create such a list, it will be useful resource for programmers/or companies which can not effort lawyer's services.

    Best regards,
    Marjan
     
    Ulf Dittmer
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    But I try there to complete an list of "common, opensource" licenses which can be used for this "commercial" purpose with no doubt that anyone who use this libraries can be suited because of license violation.


    That's the part I don't get - how does a list of open source licenses help you with a closed source project? Searching for "EULA" (end user license agreement) seems much more promising.
     
    Sheriff
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    Ulf Dittmer wrote:That's the part I don't get - how does a list of open source licenses help you with a closed source project?


    I don't believe he's looking to use one of these licenses for his project, I believe that he's trying to make sure that it is OK to use various open source projects as part of his project.
     
    Marjan Stojnev
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    Ulf Dittmer wrote:Why are you considering open source licenses for a closed-source product?



    Hi Ulf,
    We are often using opensource projects like Apache common-cli or hibernate or ... for our software...
    Some kind of license (GPL for example) can cause that our code must be "opened" if we use that library.
    That is reason why I am interested in licenses.
     
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