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googlevr / gvr-android-sdk

Google VR SDK for Android
http://developers.google.com/vr/android/
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GPL v2/3 compatibility question #52

Closed motorsep closed 8 years ago

motorsep commented 8 years ago

There is an open source game engine based on Quake GPL source that wouldn't mind getting Google Cardboard SDK integrated.

The developer raised concerns that SDK may not be GPL compatible.

Could someone from Google clarify license stance and if SDK is compatible with GPL v2 or v3 ?

Thanks.

smdol commented 8 years ago

The Cardboard SDK license is Apache 2.0.

motorsep commented 8 years ago

From the developer of the engine: "The sdk is apache 2, but the GPL covers the entire work, including any libraries. You can do what you want with the headers Google provides, but that's not the source, and thus not compatible."

I am guessing he is talking about whatever comes in .jar with SDK or any libs that come in object form with SDK.

nathanmartz commented 8 years ago

Sorry, but we can't provide legal advice on whether the cardboard SDK is compliant or not with the license of another product.

On Sun, Feb 7, 2016, 9:53 AM motorsep notifications@github.com wrote:

From the developer of the engine: "The sdk is apache 2, but the GPL covers the entire work, including any libraries. You can do what you want with the headers Google provides, but that's not the source, and thus not compatible."

I am guessing he is talking about whatever comes in .jar with SDK or any libs that come in object form with SDK.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/googlesamples/cardboard-java/issues/52#issuecomment-181063199 .

R1ck77 commented 8 years ago

I'm not a lawyer and I'm not a [EDIT: cardboard sdk] developer, but this link might clarify the situation for you:

What legal issues come up if I use GPL-incompatible libraries with GPL software?

If I understand it right (and, again, I might be getting it totally wrong!), you should ask the quake-like engine author for an exception to the license, in order to be able to integrate his/her code in your program.

Late answer, but this might be of some use to someone else.