The LGPL Alternative
Originally called the Library GPL, this special version of the GPL directly addresses the linking question. It is now called the Lesser General Public License, or LGPL for short. Advisory text at the end of the published GPL license (but not one of its terms and conditions) encourages the use of the LGPL for certain applications:
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 Lesser General Public License instead of this License. (GPL, “How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs” following GPL Terms and Conditions.)
The LGPL is an important, widely used open source license in its own right. ...
Get Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and Intellectual Property Law now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
