7 ms·

Fabric uses Paramiko, which is GNU, which means the lawyers at my company said that I couldn't use it, since I would be distributing it to some extent (for use

by nomel 4y ago

Fabric uses Paramiko, which is GNU, which means the lawyers at my company said that I couldn't use it, since I would be distributing it to some extent (for use at vendor site). Is it a dirty industry secret that most people/companies who use these open source libraries are violating their licenses, especially around the distribution? I always see great libraries posted on HN, but I don't see how anyone can actually use them, in a professional setting.

speps 4y ago
If I understand right, it's fine for commercial use as long as you don't modify it. If you do, you have to publish the modified version under GPL. Your lawyers are probably right to be so paranoid though, it's very hard to track and if found it can cost millions...
- DarylZero 4y ago
  No, the code that uses the library is a derivative work of the library, whether or not it modifies the library. GPL still allows commercial use in any case, it just requires you release your code under GPL.
  - bramblerose 4y ago
    Paramiko is licensed under the LGPL, though, so that doesn't apply here.
josephcsible 4y ago
> which is GNU, which means the lawyers at my company said that I couldn't use it Then either your company is doing something evil or those lawyers are idiots. Nothing in the GPL treats commercial use any differently than non-commercial use, and you're allowed to distribute GPL'd software as long as you make the GPL'd source available to whoever you make the binaries available to.
- nomel 4y ago
  > GPL'd source available to whoever you make the binaries available to. Or, perhaps compliance for this is their exact concern.
  - Doxin 4y ago
    If anyone inquires you point them to the appropriate github page or whatnot. As long as you're not adding your own patches it's really not relevant.
  - cozzyd 4y ago
    Unless you're just distributing .pyc files, I think for Python you are distributing the source for "free"
    - closeparen 4y ago
      The recipient of an on prem installation of proprietary Python software may have visibility of the source but they don’t have permission to distribute it to others, as GPL would require.
      - cozzyd 4y ago
        Right but Paramiko is LGPL, and presumably they could redistribute that. For GPL software, yes.
sigjuice 4y ago
Don’t see Paramiko in the list of GNU packages. https://www.gnu.org/software/software.en.html#allgnupkgs https://www.gnu.org/software/software.en.html#allgnupkgs
- nomel 4y ago
  Sorry, it's GNU LGPL. https://github.com/paramiko/paramiko/blob/main/LICENSE https://github.com/paramiko/paramiko/blob/main/LICENSE IANAL, and I didn't ask for an explanation, but I suspect the problem was that I was making a library, which, from my uneducated reading, would qualify as a derived work. I know our company is especially strict since, from my understanding, significant enough money has already been spent on legal fees.

by nomel 4y ago

speps 4y ago

If I understand right, it's fine for commercial use as long as you don't modify it. If you do, you have to publish the modified version under GPL. Your lawyers are probably right to be so paranoid though, it's very hard to track and if found it can cost millions...

DarylZero 4y ago
No, the code that uses the library is a derivative work of the library, whether or not it modifies the library. GPL still allows commercial use in any case, it just requires you release your code under GPL.
- bramblerose 4y ago
  Paramiko is licensed under the LGPL, though, so that doesn't apply here.

josephcsible 4y ago

> which is GNU, which means the lawyers at my company said that I couldn't use it Then either your company is doing something evil or those lawyers are idiots. Nothing in the GPL treats commercial use any differently than non-commercial use, and you're allowed to distribute GPL'd software as long as you make the GPL'd source available to whoever you make the binaries available to.

nomel 4y ago
> GPL'd source available to whoever you make the binaries available to. Or, perhaps compliance for this is their exact concern.
- Doxin 4y ago
  If anyone inquires you point them to the appropriate github page or whatnot. As long as you're not adding your own patches it's really not relevant.
- cozzyd 4y ago
  Unless you're just distributing .pyc files, I think for Python you are distributing the source for "free"
  - closeparen 4y ago
    The recipient of an on prem installation of proprietary Python software may have visibility of the source but they don’t have permission to distribute it to others, as GPL would require.
    - cozzyd 4y ago
      Right but Paramiko is LGPL, and presumably they could redistribute that. For GPL software, yes.

sigjuice 4y ago

Don’t see Paramiko in the list of GNU packages. https://www.gnu.org/software/software.en.html#allgnupkgs https://www.gnu.org/software/software.en.html#allgnupkgs

nomel 4y ago
Sorry, it's GNU LGPL. https://github.com/paramiko/paramiko/blob/main/LICENSE https://github.com/paramiko/paramiko/blob/main/LICENSE IANAL, and I didn't ask for an explanation, but I suspect the problem was that I was making a library, which, from my uneducated reading, would qualify as a derived work. I know our company is especially strict since, from my understanding, significant enough money has already been spent on legal fees.