At 02:25 PM 7/19/00 -0600, Tim Uckun wrote:

>>
>>Note that GPL is "viral" -- this means that any application you develop
>>with MySQL must also be GPL. There is still a fee if you want to
>>develop an application that is not open-source. Sneaky, aren't they?
>
>Not really. The GPL specifies that If I use the code of MySql and then make
>modifications to that code to make another database server then I would be
>obligated to GPL my derived database server (only if I choose to distribute
>it to the public). The GPL does not touch me if I make a separate product
>that uses the mysql engine. As long as I don't steal their code I am immune
>from the GPL. Only when you actually attempt to benefit from their hard
>work will you be subject to their terms.
>

Are you quite sure? You have described the LGPL invented to allow
programs using the C runtime avoid the intanglements of the GPL.
If theirSql is used as part of the project, whole project is under
GPL.

Here is the cogent part of the GPL:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into
proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you may
consider it
more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the library. If
this is what you want to do, use the GNU Library General Public License
instead of this
License.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

My reading says that if your product ships with TheirSql, you must
publish it. If you require your users to find their own copy of
TheirSql, you may be OK.

As a developer myself, my interest in getting tangled in the GPL
is goose egg zero. I'm particularly irked when the GNU guys apply
their license to code intentionally and explicitly in the public
domain.

Jim Starkey