Re: PostGIS in a commercial project

On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 01:41:17PM +0200, Thomas Kellerer wrote:
> Thank you very much for the detailed explanation.
>
> I always have a hard time to understand the GPL especially the
> dividing line between "using", "linkin" and creating a derived work.

That because the GPL does not get to define those terms. They are
defined by copyright law, the licence does not get to choose what is a
derived work and what isn't.  The FSF is of the opinion that anything
linked to a GPL library is a derived work, but that isn't true in all
cases (libedit vs libreadline is one of those borderline cases).

I note in the OPs case they are relying on the customer to install
PostGIS.  The GPL only applies to *redistribution* not usage.  So if
you're not supplying your customers with PostGIS then the fact that
it's GPL seems completely irrelevent.

Have a nice day,
--
Martijn van Oosterhout   <kleptog@svana.org>   http://svana.org/kleptog/
> He who writes carelessly confesses thereby at the very outset that he does
> not attach much importance to his own thoughts.
   -- Arthur Schopenhauer