gst-rtsp-server license confusion (GPL or LGPL?)

[enthusiastic geek]

Is <a href="git://anongit.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gst-rtsp-server" style="color:rgb(0,0,255);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;white-space:nowrap;background-color:rgb(238,238,238)">gst-rtsp-server package licensed as GPL or LGPL?  http://git.exherbo.org/summer/packages/media-libs/gst-rtsp-server/index.html lists it as LGPLv2 and the COPYING file states GPL. What is the actual license? 

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[Tim-Philipp Müller-2]

On Wed, 2012-09-12 at 15:40 -0400, enthusiastic geek wrote:

> Is gst-rtsp-server package licensed as GPL or LGPL?
>  http://git.exherbo.org/summer/packages/media-libs/gst-rtsp-server/index.html lists it as LGPLv2 and the COPYING file states GPL. What is the actual license?

The license is LGPL+ v2. The COPYING file(s) state LGPL+ v2:

tpm@zingle:~/gst/0.11/gst-rtsp-server$ head -n 2 COPYING*
==> COPYING <==
                  GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
                       Version 2, June 1991

==> COPYING.LIB <==
                  GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
                       Version 2, June 1991

and have done so since the initial import.

The source code headers state LGPL+ v2.

Which COPYING file are you refering to?

I have no idea what that exherbo.org site is.

Cheers
 -Tim

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[enthusiastic geek]

Hi Tim,

           Thanks for the clarification.

I downloaded the source http://people.freedesktop.org/~wtay/. Inside that these is a file called "COPYING" which starts with the following text.


                  GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
                       Version 2, June 1991

 Copyright (C) 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
                    675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
 Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
 of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

[This is the first released version of the library GPL.  It is
 numbered 2 because it goes with version 2 of the ordinary GPL.]

                            Preamble
...
...
...

[enthusiastic geek]

My understanding was

LGPL =  GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE? (can be used in freeware and commercial)

But from what I read

LGPL =  GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE (used only in freeware?)

But I think I get it that as long as you just use APIs you are good to use in freeware and commercial ware. But if you modify source you are obligated to release the source.

[Tim-Philipp Müller-2]

On Wed, 2012-09-12 at 14:03 -0700, enthusiastic geek wrote:

> My understanding is
>
> LGPL =  GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE? (can be used in freeware and
> commercial)
>
> But from what I read
>
> LGPL =  GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE (used only in freeware?)

Where did you read that? Have you tried reading the license? Lots of
people are using GStreamer commercially with this license...

Basically, LGPL = LGPL. At some point the GNU folks decided that they
wanted to encourage people to license their libraries as GPL, at which
point the "Library GPL" got renamed to/refered to as "Lesser GPL".

Cheers
 -Tim



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[enthusiastic geek]

Hi Tim,

I usually use gst-inspect to check license but didn't know what bin this was.

Haha! Now, you just proved a good point why I am not a lawyer but an engineer. I would rather read hundreds of pages of technical research paper than a few pages of law based material - A page or two of law related material just enough to bog me down and cast a spell of soporific effect.