[ale] Trying to understand mysql licensing

Michael B. Trausch mike at trausch.us
Fri May 23 15:20:46 EDT 2008


On Fri, 2008-05-23 at 14:30 -0400, Atlanta Geek wrote:
> We are using mysql in a commercial product. We are already buying
> redhad ES that comes with mysql.  Do we need to pay mysql as well?

I think you mean proprietary.  Open source and free software can indeed
be commercial in nature, just as proprietary software can be
non-commercial in nature.  It's all about the terms of the licensing and
the availability of rights to the end-user of the software in question.
Also, you'll want to read the fine print for RHEL to see if the copy of
MySQL that comes with it is given to you under the terms of the GPL, or
a commercial license.  If I'm not mistaken, it's distributed to you
under the terms of the GPL, and you'd have to seek licensing directly
from Sun/MySQL if you intend to do anything with it that requires
licensing outside of the GPL.

It would depend on the application and how it is distributed, if it is
distributed at all.  Allow me to state that I am not an attorney and
this is not legal advice.  If you are at all in doubt about the exact
details of your situation, you are well-advised to seek out the advice
of an attorney who is competent in the matters of software licensing and
technology issues.

First off, the GPL (which the whole of MySQL is licensed under) does not
apply to end-users.  It applies only to distributors (some of which may,
of course, also be end-users).  Therefore, if your application runs
in-house (for example, on a Web server), then even if it is commercial,
it does not matter.  You are and end-user, and you are not distributing
your application, nor MySQL.  You are able to use GPL'd MySQL on your
server, and allow clients to connect to your application using a Web
browser.

However, if you are distributing your application (presumably, based on
your request, in a proprietary binary product, with a license which is
not OSI-approved), then in 99% of cases, you _must_ get a license for
MySQL other than the GPL (somewhat erroneously referred to as a
commercial license).  If you link to the MySQL client libraries, you'll
need to do this.  One notable exception would be if you have created
your _own_ MySQL client access library, and it does nothing but connects
to a server, then you may use the version licensed under the GPL.  (In
other words, you do not link to any MySQL code, including the MySQL
libraries, directly or indirectly; you simply open a socket and speak
the bare protocol to the server.  You probably do not do this.)

More information about your request would be necessary to really see
what things are going on.  Nonetheless, you're strongly recommended to
ask your attorney to answer this question, or, refer you to an attorney
that can.  Be sure that the attorney is familiar with all of the
relevant issues, of course.

	HTH,
	Mike

-- 
Michael B. Trausch                                   mike at trausch.us
home: 404-592-5746, 1                                 www.trausch.us
cell: 678-522-7934                       im: mike at trausch.us, jabber
Ubuntu Unofficial Backports Project:    http://backports.trausch.us/

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