Distributing a GPL utility program with commercial software

Question

My company is considering distributing a sql profiler with our commercial software to make support and diagnostics easier. A few questions I have:

1. Do we have to ship the source code with our setup? Or is hosting it on our website or a link to the project website enough?
2. Can we create a shortcut to the GPL tool or is that called derived work?
3. Do I need to ship the GPL license with my setup? Do I need to show it to the user? Do they need to accept it?
4. If I just use the tool independently (not linked from our commercial app) do I need to give attribution in our about box?
5. Are we allowed to repackage the app (ship just the exe?) Or do we need to ship the installer?
6. If we decide to get involved in the project and improve it or fork the project, is there any rules (besides the implicit requirement to use GPL license?) e.g. must we send the changes with our setup? etc...

Answer 1

Of course, IANAL,

1. Yes, you have to ship the code. Edit: You can also make it available upon request, although it is much simpler (and safer) to ship it. (You could mail people CDs if they ask for it.)
2. Yes, that is okay.
3. Yes. No. No.
4. No.
5. Yes.
6. You would need to make the changes available upon request.

Answer 2

Given all the usual IANAL disclaimers:

1. You don't need to ship the source, but you must make it available. A link to your website is fine, but a link to the project website is not. One issue with hosting it on your website is keeping older revisions (I'm not sure what if any 'expiration' there would be).
2. A shortcut would not be a derived work.
3. Yes, you will need to ship the GPL license, I'm not sure about the other 2 items (though I do know that users of GPL software do not need to agree to the license unless they distribute it further)

I don't know about the other questions.

Answer 3

It's very dangerous asking legal advice on a medium such as Stack Overflow. We are not lawyers but mostly code nerds. Even if there were lawyers amongst us, they are not your lawyer, and probably know not to give you any definite advice. Not only that, the answer is completely depending on your jurisdiction. I can easily imagine our Finnish law system would interpret the 'definite answer' very differently from the one in the US.

Besides, nothing is bullet proof - you can always be sued, rightly or not, which will undoubtedly cost you money. Also, the judge is the one who decides whether your use was legal or not, by banging that wooden hammer of hers.

I would strongly encourage to dismiss any possible legal advice and consult a real lawyer.

Answer 4

IANAL - treat the answer with appropriate caution.

1 Do we have to ship the source code with our setup? Or is hosting it on our website or a link to the project website enough?

You do not have to ship the source code; you do have to ensure that the recipients know how to get the code.

2 Can we create a shortcut to the GPL tool or is that called derived work?

Installing on Windows? I would not expect a desktop/toolbar shortcut to be a derived work.

3 Do I need to ship the GPL license with my setup? Do I need to show it to the user? Do they need to accept it?

(a) Yes; (b) No; (c) No.

4 If I just use the tool independently (not linked from our commercial app) do I need to give attribution in our about box?

Not sure, but probably not.

5 Are we allowed to repackage the app (ship just the exe?) Or do we need to ship the installer?

I think you're allowed to ship just the exe; you will provide the source on demand.

6 If we decide to get involved in the project and improve it or fork the project, [are] there any rules (besides the implicit requirement to use GPL license?) e.g. must we send the changes with our setup? etc...

Don't fork the project. Be prepared to send any improvements back to the project - and to let them have those improvements under the GPL. You should carefully identify what was original and what was changed from the original - so blame can be attached to the correct parties.