CGAL users discussion list

[Andreas Fabri <>]

Hello again,

Let me make a precision concerning my previous mail.

There are parts of CGAL, which are distributed under the LGPL,
and these parts can be used in closed source applications
without any problem.

On the package overview page of the CGAL Online Manual at
http://www.cgal.org/Manual/3.3/doc_html/cgal_manual/packages.html
we mark for every package its license.

best regards,

andreas




Andreas Fabri wrote:
> Bo Schwarzstein wrote:
>> Hello everyong,
>>     CGAL is really a very very useful tool. Could I use this library in 
>> our in-house film renderer of my company ? I means whether the licence 
>> allow we use CGAL for commecial propose ?
>>  
>> Thanks.
> 
> 
> Hello Bo,
> 
> The open source license we have chosen for CGAL is QPL, just as for Qt
> (which is also distributed under GPL).
> 
> This license implies that whenever you make software using CGAL this
> software must also be distributed on our request, and it must be distributed
> under an open source license as well.
> 
> We have commercial users who get a free ride, as they have no problem
> to distribute their software.
> 
> We have "non-commercial" academic users who buy a commercial license
> as they do not want to publish their code, as they plan to commercialise
> it after their research is finished.
> 
> It sounds theoretical that "you must distribute on our request", as if
> we do not even know who you work for, we will have a hard time to track
> you down, and even if we do, it will be hard to prove that there is any
> software using CGAL inside your company, so the risk is low, but it is
> illegal.
> 
> 
> best regards,
> 
> andreas