Re: Selling a GTK+ application for money?

[Owen Taylor <otaylor redhat com>]

Sachin Garg <sachin@cdacb.ernet.in> writes:

> On 26 Oct 1999, Owen Taylor wrote:
> 
> > Paul Cardwell <arc@mama.indstate.edu> writes:
> > 
> > > I am writing an application in GTK+ and wish to sell it to make money.  Is
> > > this possible using GTK+ and linking it in via shared libraries?
> > 
> > The most relevant restrictions are:
> > 
> >  - If you modify GTK+ itself, then you must distribute the
> >    source to the modifications.
> 
> A clarification here:
> 
> I write a new GTK+ widget, derived from other GTK+ widgets, but which
> use some specific code which is not free (both in terms of cost and
> freedom).

> Has the source code to the new widget got to be distributed freely?
> Can one do something like: provide teh source to the new widget and
> put the onus on the end user to supply the missing parts
> herself/himself? Is this legally and ethically acceptable?

Depends what you mean by 'derived'. If you mean to derive
in the object-oriented sense, then, assuming you use no
code from existing widgets, then there is no obligation
on your code. 

If you mean to derive by taking existing code for a widget and
modifying it, then the LGPL puts specific restrictions on
what you can do. Read it (and ask a lawyer if you don't
understand); an approximate interpretation is if you modify code
from GTK+ to form a new library, then:

 a) All code in that library must be available to users under
    the terms of the LGPL.

 b) The library must function on its own without requiring
    proprietary code.

Regards,
                                        Owen