Genode Userland Licensing

[Norman Feske]

Hi Nick,

> Moving this in a slightly different direction. If a lgpl, application
> stack library, compatible with Genode, was packaged with a Genode
> bundle, then I assume that this would be ok without the need for any
> licensing?

Publishing a library compatible with Genode is perfectly fine regardless
of the license you pick for the library. It is your code after all.
Genode Labs is actually doing this for some pieces of code. For example,
we maintain the qoost library (C++ utilities for Qt development)
separate from Genode. This library uses the BSD license:

  http://sourceforge.net/projects/qoost/

We simply make qoost available within Genode via the libports
repository. The license of Genode does not affect the qoost library at all.

It goes without saying that you are free to distribute the source code
of Genode as you see fit (aka "bundle"). That is granted by the GPL.

The restrictions of the GPL come into effect when you distribute a
binary with Genode as an ingredient. In this case you need to distribute
the source codes of the other ingredients (including the code that you
developed) under a Free-Software license along with the binary.

So it is ultimately the responsibility of the creators and distributors
of binaries (not source codes) to make sure to comply with the licenses
of all the parts the binaries are made out of. This way, the GPL ensures
that the benefits of Free Software are guaranteed to be passed to the
end user.

Best regards
Norman

-- 
Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske
Genode Labs

http://www.genode-labs.com · http://genode.org

Genode Labs GmbH · Amtsgericht Dresden · HRB 28424 · Sitz Dresden
Geschäftsführer: Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske, Christian Helmuth