Menu
As far as I know, when I build a desktop/server app using any GPL code like MySQL I will have to release the source code of my software under the GPL.
If I want to develop a web-app using MySQL, my code will link against the MySQL libraries. Must I release the sourcecode of my webapp in this situation to be in accordance with the GPL?
554
MySQL Licenses. The MySQL software is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which probably is the best known open source license. The formal terms of the GPL license can be found at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
MySQL itself is open source and can be used as a standalone product in a commercial environment. If you're running mySQL on a web server, you are free to do so for any purpose, commercial or not. If you run a website that uses mySQL, you won't need to release any of your code.
MySQL Community Edition is the freely downloadable version of the world's most popular open source database. It is available under the GPL license and is supported by a huge and active community of open source developers.
Using the Licensed CodeThe GPL v3 license permits users of the code to: Use the code for commercial purposes: Like GPL v2, GPL v3 imposes no conditions on the internal use of the software.
Provided that you keep it server-only(and therefore "private"), you don't have to release it as GPL. But as soon as it reaches public desktops, it can no longer be considered an internal build, and therefore source code is needed.
So you can:
95
You must either release the source (under GPL), or pay for a proprietary license to MySQL so that you gain the right to distribute the MySQL binaries under a license that is more amenable to that which proprietary products use. It's best to take this type of question to your lawyer, though.
ETA: Just to clarify a little bit; if you write your own library which talks to MySQL using its wire-line protocol, then you'll always be 100% in the clear. Likewise, if you use a library that has done just that, but is BSD licensed (as an example), then you'd also be in the clear, because you're only talking to MySQL over a socket connection, and not actually calling into GPL'd code. I am not immediately aware of any BSD licensed interfaces to the MySQL protocol, but it's certainly possible that there is one out there somewhere.
38
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
