ahmed dohar wrote:Is itext free and open source?
Hauke Ingmar Schmidt wrote:I am not sure about the consequences.
When programming an in-house application, the obligation to give the users access to the source code is trivial. But has this any consequences when the generated documents are distributed?
Bruno Lowagie wrote:...
Mark Storer
iTextSoftware.com
Lester Burnham wrote:... the bottom line of which is that the AGPL version of iText is a complete non-starter for just about any business application.
Mark Storer
iTextSoftware.com
Mark Storer wrote:The AGPL version of iText is equivalent to any other commercial PDF library for just about any business application (with a comparable feature set, and you get the source for free which costs Much More for other libraries).
Mark Storer
iTextSoftware.com
Bruno Lowagie wrote:
Hauke Ingmar Schmidt wrote:I am not sure about the consequences.
When programming an in-house application, the obligation to give the users access to the source code is trivial. But has this any consequences when the generated documents are distributed?
The AGPL was written because the GPL had a loophole when used in a SaaS context: the GPL only talks about "the distribution of the software". In a SaaS context, the software remains on a server somewhere. The AGPL makes sure that documents created as part of a service without distributing the software are covered by the F/OSS license too.
Wojtek Cie wrote:
Bruno Lowagie wrote:
Hauke Ingmar Schmidt wrote:I am not sure about the consequences.
When programming an in-house application, the obligation to give the users access to the source code is trivial. But has this any consequences when the generated documents are distributed?
The AGPL was written because the GPL had a loophole when used in a SaaS context: the GPL only talks about "the distribution of the software". In a SaaS context, the software remains on a server somewhere. The AGPL makes sure that documents created as part of a service without distributing the software are covered by the F/OSS license too.
I am waiting for final confirmation from my lawyers but it seems you are wrong. Output of the program is not protected - accessing the program by users is. MongoDB for example is AGPL. Does it mean that if my SaaS service presents data stored in MongoDB (output of the mongodb) then I have to opensource my whole infrastructure? That would be ridiculous...
Linux is a GPL project. It does NOT mean that if I start presenting system stats captured by using GPL-licensed system commands on the web site presented from this server I need to opensource my stack, does it?
With a little knowledge, a cast iron skillet is non-stick and lasts a lifetime. |