[IGDA_indies] the LGPL

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Tom Spilman wrote:
> Brandon J. Van Every wrote:
>
> > What we really want is a legally definitive
> > website, not the SDL "Sure, this will work"
> > website.
>
>   Unfortunately what I think your looking for is a lawyer.
> I've yet to have
> found anything online other than the licenses themselves to
> be "legally definitive".

The problem with the GPL and the LGPL is they've yet to be tested in any
court.  The Free Software Foundation says that's because everyone knows
they'd lose.  Unfortunately, without legal resolution, these licenses
remain under a cloud.  Not the GPL so much, as few commercial outfits
are interested in it, and no game developers are.  Rather, the LGPL.
Looks like we can use it commercially, but... what about this-or-that
scenario?  So the thinking goes.  I can understand companies steering
clear of it, not wanting any exposure to unknowns or unthought-ofs.

If there were case law, then we could have websites explaining what has
held up in court and what hasn't.  Then we wouldn't need to consult the
expensive lawyers as much.  :-)

Another possibility would be a list of commercial games that have
shipped with LGPL components.  I bet it's a short list!

> Short of that you should be safe following the
> instructions on the SDL site.

That's been my personal operative decision to date.  But, it's a
theoretical position.  I look for MIT/BSD licenses because they don't
have any issues.  To the extent that I do any open source development,
that's what I put my time into.  I'd only bother with a LGPL library if
it's a mature body of work, offers significant functionality, has an
ongoing community providing support and maintenance, and I can't easily
provide that functionality in a less restrictive way.

Another class of licenses not often discussed are the various Creative
Commons licenses.
http://creativecommons.org/license/


Cheers,                     www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every           Seattle, WA

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