On Sat, Mar 05, 2005 at 09:48:24 +0100,
Miroslav ?ulc <miroslav.sulc@startnet.cz> wrote:
> If I understood MySQL licensing correctly, simply said, end user has two
> choices:
>
> 1) when using application that is licensed under GPL, he/she can use
> MySQL for free
> 2) when using application under any other license (simplified), he/she
> must pay for each MySQL installation
No really. The software is GPL and you can use it as you would any GPL
software. However MySQL threatans to take people to court if they use
the software commercially. They may or may not win, but this gets companies
to pay MySQL license fees rather than pay to go to court.
In theory if your application isn't tied tightly to MySQL you should be
able to win a lawsuit. But the first couple of companies that did this
will probably end up paying more in court costs than license fees.
I don't think their licensing stance is ethical. Because they own the
full copyright and effectively own the developers, they could play other
games down the road as well.