Usage of Chromium GPL Components with a proprietary software
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So basically we have a proprietary software that uses QtWebEngine.
Currently as far as I understand all the Chromium GPL libs are being linked into the QtWebEngineProcess and then communicates and renders the HTML pages into the proprietary QT application.
Does that mean that the proprietary application needs to be GPL license compatible ?
I have taken a look at https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLInProprietarySystem
and I quote:However, in many cases you can distribute the GPL-covered software alongside your proprietary system. To do this validly, you must make sure that the free and nonfree programs communicate at arms length, that they are not combined in a way that would make them effectively a single program.
So does that consider as arms length ?
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Hi and welcome to devnet,
That's a question you should bring directly to The Qt Company and/or a lawyer. This is a community driven forum, no legal advice available here.
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So basically we have a proprietary software that uses QtWebEngine.
Currently as far as I understand all the Chromium GPL libs are being linked into the QtWebEngineProcess and then communicates and renders the HTML pages into the proprietary QT application.
Does that mean that the proprietary application needs to be GPL license compatible ?
I have taken a look at https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLInProprietarySystem
and I quote:However, in many cases you can distribute the GPL-covered software alongside your proprietary system. To do this validly, you must make sure that the free and nonfree programs communicate at arms length, that they are not combined in a way that would make them effectively a single program.
So does that consider as arms length ?
@ramysiha said in Usage of Chromium GPL Components with a proprietary software:
So basically we have a proprietary software that uses QtWebEngine.
Currently as far as I understand all the Chromium GPL libs are being linked into the QtWebEngineProcess and then communicates and renders the HTML pages into the proprietary QT application.
Does that mean that the proprietary application needs to be GPL license compatible ?i am not a lawyer, these are just my thoughts/interpretations.
I think you do not need to license your software to GPL (as long as you haven't changed any source of the GPL module). You haven't integrated QtWebEngine into your application, you are just using it by executing a "tool". And i think this is meant by "arm length".
If you would have integrated it statically it would make a difference.But anyway to be safe you should consider to get legal advice by a laywer.
