GPL/JRE embedding/EXE wrapper

[Wallace]

Hello,

now that "Java is GPL", is it always possible to embbed a JRE with a
closed source commercial program in only one .exe wrapper (for Win32
platform)?

Any information is welcome.

Thanks in advance

 

[Simon Brooke]

Hello,

now that "Java is GPL", is it always possible to embbed a JRE with a
closed source commercial program in only one .exe wrapper (for Win32
platform)?

H'mmm...

No, I don't think so. You may not, in general, combine GPL and non-GPL code
into a single binary. Seeing your .exe is a binary, no you can't. However,
if the .exe is really only a self-extracting archive, and the GPL
components in the archive, when extracted, don't link directly to the
non-GPL components (and vice versa), then you probably can.

Oh - and if your binary is only used within the organisation that authored
it, then you definitely can. The GPL only applies when you distribute
software to another legal entity. So if your employers employ you to
produce software which will only ever be used by your employers, then it
is legit to mix GPL and non-GPL components.

 

[Andreas Leitgeb]

No, I don't think so. You may not, in general, combine GPL and non-GPL code
into a single binary. Seeing your .exe is a binary, no you can't. However,
if the .exe is really only a self-extracting archive, and the GPL
components in the archive, when extracted, don't link directly to the
non-GPL components (and vice versa), then you probably can.

So far so good for the general case.
I think I remember vaguely a statement, that jre will have
just that bit of extra-license that would let you explicitly
allow to use with closed-source applications, if and only if
the jre is unchanged.

So you are *not* allowed to both *modify* the jre
*and* then bundle it with a *closed source* application.

You may modify the jre and then bundle it with open-source app
(with jre's changes also being open, of course) - you must
however set a new name for the modified jre.

PS: this is no legal advice - I'm not a lawyer.