search

jim-easterbrook / python-gphoto2

Python interface to libgphoto2
GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0
357 stars 59 forks source link

LGPL vs. GPL license? #160

Closed erdmann closed 10 months ago

erdmann commented 10 months ago

Thanks very much for writing python-gphoto2!

I'd like to make use of it (but not extend it) in an MIT-licensed codebase, but I see that while libgphoto2 is LGPL-licensed, your Python bindings are licensed under the GPL. Would you please consider changing the license to LGPL to harmonize it with the libgphoto2 license?

jim-easterbrook commented 10 months ago

Does making python-gphoto2 a separately installed dependency of your MIT licensed stuff meet your requirements?

I can't remember why I chose GPL over LGPL. I think it was to prevent use in commercial software.

erdmann commented 10 months ago

My understanding is that if some code requires a GPL-licensed library to function, regardless of whether it's linked in a compiled language or imported in a dynamic language, it is obligated to be under the GPL itself.

The main difference between the LGPL and the GPL is that LGPL requires that, like the GPL, modifications of the library itself are (L)GPL licensed, but that merely importing an LGPL-licensed module doesn't require the importer to then also put their code under the GPL.

jim-easterbrook commented 10 months ago

A am not a lawyer so can't argue about linking vs importing, but it makes sense for python-gphoto2 to be under the same licence as libgphoto2.

I'll change the licence for the next release.

erdmann commented 10 months ago

Thank you very much! This will save a huge amount of time. What is your typical release schedule?

jim-easterbrook commented 10 months ago

I'm not that organised! Generally when I've made a significant change or there's a new release of libgphoto2 to include. I'm currently working on some unit tests for the Python package, which are failing on the GitHub Actions MacOS runner.

Expect a new release in weeks rather than months.

erdmann commented 10 months ago

Excellent. Many thanks again!

jim-easterbrook commented 10 months ago

I think this may have influenced my original licence choice. https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html

jim-easterbrook commented 10 months ago

I've just released version 2.4.0 under LGPL.