clipka wrote:
> But that's exactly the problem: With LGPL it wouldn't be that much of a
> hassle. But GPL says: If your product has *any* GPLed code in it, *all*
> the product software must be GPLed - every single byte of it. If you sell
> the thing, that is.

Incorrect. If your program links to GPL code, all of it has to be GPL or
compatible (you can make your program BSD-licensed and link it to GPL
libraries, for example).

Ubuntu has lots of GPL code. And also distributes stuff like unrar (source
available but you can't write the compression algorithm based on it),
povray (you know its terms; source avilable but definitely not
GPL-compatible), nvidia driver (binary only), etc.

Just because you distribute GPL software doesn't mean all the software in
your "product" has to be GPL.

If you use a Linux kernel and run your own proprietary car-controlling
application on it, you're fine. If you *modify* the kernel to... do
something to the car, you have to release those modifications. I'm not sure
where proprietary device drivers fall (I think Linux has a special
licensing exception for that).

If you compile your application with gcc, it doesn't have to be GPL, even
though gcc is GPL. gcc even necessarily links your application with some
GPL code (the standard C library!), but there is also a special exception
for that.

If your application links with a GPL library, your code has to be GPL or
compatible. If your application links with a LGPL library, your code can be
under any license, but you have to allow your users to modify that LGPL
library and relink your app with it. This can be done in three ways:
release your app's code, release your app's object files (compiled but not
linked yet), or link to the library dynamically.

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