I am developing a java application and I want to use:
tools to be shipped with my commercial application that I am NOT going to sell as an open source application.
So I want to know which tools I can use in my app.
Actually I am evaluating PENTAHO and JASPER but I don't understand licensing issues. Some comes under GPL, some under LGPL, some under CPL... so I am very confused about those.
... but I don't understand licensing issues.
If you are going to build a commercial application on top of someone elses platform or libraries, you need to understand the licensing issues, irrespective of whether the libraries are open source or closed source. There are no short cuts here. You need to do the research, understand the licenses and make your decisions based on that understanding.
Read the Wikipedia article on this. The section "Free and open source software" on this article explains your question.
You are going to get a critical decision. So it is much worth to spend some time on license types and getting a good understanding. It will make you more comfortable in selecting the components.
Check this comparison as well.
Software released under GPL or LGPL might not be what you're looking for, just because it requires that your product will be released under the same license.
Here is an overview of licenses with tons of links to explanations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_software_licenses
If you're providing a commercial application, presumably you'll also want to make sure you can support these tools - so will you be using the free version of jasper/pentaho or the commercial version?
Dont both companies have partner programmes? Perhaps thats worth looking in to. It sounds to me like you'll definately need some level of support from the owning company.. Maybe the question is, what happens if you embed the software under a partner agreement, then discontinue that agreement in the future?