Re: GPL licenced Java application using non GPL jars (libraries)

[Stefaan A Eeckels]

On Mon, 22 May 2006 20:06:59 +0100
Ben <na@na.com> wrote:

> The third party jars are used via method calls, not by inheritance.
> Even so the GPL is too vague. I suspect as a small development if it
> went to court I could argue that there was no intent to deliberately
> violate the licence, I intended to benefit society, and due to the
> vagueness of the licence the general consensus/common sense would
> hold true. However I won't be releasing the software under GPL (yet)
> because of the potential risk.

There is no risk. You, as the copyright holder, are the only person who
could sue for a violation of the license. Putting software under the
GPL can only be a problem if it contains non-original elements that
have a license that prohibits this. You do not have to honour the GPL,
it's those who receive it who have to abide by it. 

-- 
Stefaan A Eeckels
-- 
"There's nothing wrong with Java - well actually there is, but we won't
intrude on private grief here - except that it is pretty presumptuous
and demanding, and shows clear signs of fixation at the anal stage: it
doesn't just throw exceptions, it throws tantrums."   --Steve Blinkhorn