[VPM] GNU GPL vs. GNU LGPL

[Darren Duncan]

At 11:40 AM -0500 12/29/06, abez wrote:
>GPL ensures that everyone who uses your code in all derivative forms will have
>the same rights as everyone else who ever used your code. No one will have a
>different license and all systems your code is included in will have to follow
>the same license (the GPL). Note that anyone can take your code and use it
>privately without releasing it.  The GPL really doesn't matter to people who
>are not redistributing your code or their changes to your code.
>
>LGPL is a cop out, it allows people to use your code without making 
>the rest of
>their code GPL, LGPL or so on, they only need to need to adhere to the LGPL
>when they change your code and then they release the changes as LGPL. This
>means your code can be included in proprietary software which is distributed.
>
>GPL forces everyone to play on the same playing field and ensures that future
>users will be granted the same rights.  LGPL simply ensures that 
>your code will
>be LGPL regardless of being linked to proprietary software.
>
>Using the GPL means that you can take any other GPL code and include it into
>your program with little effort and 0 licensing worries.
>
>For more information visit http://fsf.org.

Not the same words as I used, but that's absolutely right.  And using 
the straight GPL *is* the best thing for you to do if you don't have 
a good reason to use something else.  If I use anything non-GPL, it 
is to handle more complicated situations, but I typically just try to 
make GPL work for all situations as possible. -- Darren Duncan