Question about LGPL license for RPM package.

[Panu Matilainen]

On 12/26/2011 09:19 AM, Hiroyuki Iizaka wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Of August I was asked about RPM license,
> and I got following reply.
>
>
>> The issue of RPM's license only comes into play if you are
>> distributing RPM itself or any changes to RPM.
>
> For example, if it is using the linux os for embedded devices
> as it would not be a problem?
> In this case, it would distribute the rpm system.
>
> Therefore, if the license of librpmdb.so / librpmio.so aren't LGPL,
> there is a problem.
>
> It means that, the proprietary software which packaged by rpm and
> used in embedded devices, it have to open the source code.
>
> So, I want to clarify that librpmdb.so and librpmio.so are LGPL or not.

Like others have already pointed out, rpm's license has no implications 
on the content of what is packaged with it. Just like... say, creating a 
.zip archive of your own files does not make those files magically 
covered by the license of the archiver application.

The LGPL exception in rpm's license only matters if the proprietary 
software you're talking about *links to* librpm, for all other uses GPL 
and LGPL are the same. So the question is, does it link to librpm or not?

Last but not least: people on this list cannot give you legal advice, 
you should consult a lawyer for that.

	- Panu -