Commercial software using open source projects?

Question

Can any open source library be used in a commercial software or any specific licensed open source library?

The open source library is used in the software and gets bundled in the package. No changes done in the open source code.

Answer 1

That depends on the license. You should read the license agreements in your target open source library.

For example, GPL has a good FAQ: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html

Answer 2

Here's a bunch of answers to this question:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/493959/creating-software-derivative-works-from-open-source/494745#494745

Answer 3

I think you need to distinguish between commercial software used in-house/privately and commercial software bundled for sale or distribution.

Most licenses (including GPL) allow for private customizations of open source software.

Does the GPL require that source code of modified versions be posted to the public?

The GPL does not require you to release your modified version, or any part of it. You are free to make modifications and use them privately, without ever releasing them. This applies to organizations (including companies), too; an organization can make a modified version and use it internally without ever releasing it outside the organization.

But if you release the modified version to the public in some way, the GPL requires you to make the modified source code available to the program's users, under the GPL.

Thus, the GPL gives permission to release the modified program in certain ways, and not in other ways; but the decision of whether to release it is up to you.

If you are redistributing/selling your software, it depends on the license for details. For example, GPL does not allow it without distributing source of your new work.

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.

and LGPL does allow it if you link in the library, but not if you create an executable containing the library.

A program that contains no derivative of any portion of the Library, but is designed to work with the Library by being compiled or linked with it, is called a "work that uses > the Library". Such a work, in isolation, is not a derivative work of the Library, and therefore falls outside the scope of this License.

However, linking a "work that uses the Library" with the Library creates an executable that is a derivative of the Library (because it contains portions of the Library), rather than a "work that uses the library". The executable is therefore covered by this License. Section 6 states terms for distribution of such executables.

Read up on the specific open source license you are trying to use.