docs/busybox.net/license.html - codeaurora/busybox - Gitiles

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 <h3>The GPL BusyBox license</h3>

 There has been some confusion in the past as to exactly what is
 required to safely distribute GPL'd software such as BusyBox as
 part of a product.  To ensure that there is no confusion
 whatsoever, this page attempts to summarize what you should do to
 ensure you do not accidentally violate the law.

 <p>

 <p>

 BusyBox is licensed under the GNU General Public License , which
 is generally just abbreviated simply as the GPL license, or
 just the GPL.  <a href="/products.html">Anyone thinking of shipping
 BusyBox as part of a product</a> should be familiar with the
 licensing terms under which they are allowed to use and
 distribute BusyBox.  You are advised to take a look over the

 <ul>
 <li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">full text of
 the GNU General Public License</a>, and
 <li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html">
 Frequently Asked Questions about the GNU GPL</a>
 </ul>
 to be sure you (and your lawyers) fully understand them.

 <p>

 The following is a quick summary for the impatient.  If you
 carefully follow these steps, it will ensure that you are 100%
 authorized to ship BusyBox with your product, and have no reason
 to worry about lawsuits or being listed on the <a
 href="/shame.html">BusyBox Hall of Shame</a> page.  You will be
 able to sleep peacefully at night knowing you have fulfilled all
 your licensing obligations.

 <p>

 If you distribute a product, it should either be accompanied by
 <b>full source for all GPL'd products</b> (including BusyBox)
 and/or a <b>written offer</b> to supply the source for all
 GPL'd products for the cost of shipping and handling.  The source
 has to be in its preferred machine readable form, so you cannot
 encrypt or obfuscate it.  You are not required to provide full
 source for all the closed source applications that happen to be
 part of the system with BusyBox, though you can certainly do so
 if you feel like it.  But providing source for the GPL licensed
 applications such as BusyBox is manditory.

 <p>

 <b>Accompanied by source</b> generally means you place the full
 source code for all GPL'd products such as BusyBox on a driver CD
 somewhere.  Full source code includes the BusyBox ".config" file
 used when your shipping BusyBox binary was compiled.

 <p>

 <b>A written offer</b> generally means that somewhere in the
 docs for your product, you write something like

 <blockquote>
 The GPL source code contained in this product is available as a
 free download from http://blah.blah.blah/
 </blockquote>
 Or you can offer source by writing
 somewhere in the docs for your product something like
 <blockquote>
 If you would like a copy of the GPL source code in this product
 on a CD, please send $9.99 to &lt;address&gt; for the costs of
 preparing and mailing a CD to you.
 </blockquote>
 <p>

 Keep in mind though that if you distribute GPL'd binaries online
 (as is often done when supplying firmware updates), it is highly
 recommended that you make the corresponding source available online
 at the same place.  Regardless, you <b>must</b> either make source
 available online (i.e. <b>accompanied by source</b>) and/or inform
 those downloading firmware updates of their right to obtain source
 (i.e. <b>a written offer</b>).  Failure to do so is a violation of
 your licensing obligations.


 <p>

 Some people have the mistaken understanding that if they use unmodified
 GPL'd source code, they do not need to distribute anything.  This belief
 is not correct, and is not supported by the
 <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">text of GPL</a>.
 Please do re-read it -- you will find there is no such provision.
 If you distribute any GPL'd binaries, you must also make source available
 as discussed on this webpage.

 <p>

 These days, <a href="http://www.linksys.com/">Linksys</a> is
 doing a good job at complying with the GPL, they get to be an
 example of how to do things right.  Please take a moment and
 check out what they do with
 <a href="http://www.linksys.com/download/firmware.asp?fwid=178">
 distributing the firmware for their WRT54G Router.</a>
 Following their example would be a fine way to ensure you have
 fulfilled your licensing obligations.


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	<h3>The GPL BusyBox license</h3>

	There has been some confusion in the past as to exactly what is
	required to safely distribute GPL'd software such as BusyBox as
	part of a product. To ensure that there is no confusion
	whatsoever, this page attempts to summarize what you should do to
	ensure you do not accidentally violate the law.

	<p>

	<p>

	BusyBox is licensed under the GNU General Public License , which
	is generally just abbreviated simply as the GPL license, or
	just the GPL. <a href="/products.html">Anyone thinking of shipping
	BusyBox as part of a product</a> should be familiar with the
	licensing terms under which they are allowed to use and
	distribute BusyBox. You are advised to take a look over the

	<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">full text of
	the GNU General Public License</a>, and
	<li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html">
	Frequently Asked Questions about the GNU GPL</a>
	</ul>
	to be sure you (and your lawyers) fully understand them.

	<p>

	The following is a quick summary for the impatient. If you
	carefully follow these steps, it will ensure that you are 100%
	authorized to ship BusyBox with your product, and have no reason
	to worry about lawsuits or being listed on the <a
	href="/shame.html">BusyBox Hall of Shame</a> page. You will be
	able to sleep peacefully at night knowing you have fulfilled all
	your licensing obligations.

	<p>

	If you distribute a product, it should either be accompanied by
	<b>full source for all GPL'd products</b> (including BusyBox)
	and/or a <b>written offer</b> to supply the source for all
	GPL'd products for the cost of shipping and handling. The source
	has to be in its preferred machine readable form, so you cannot
	encrypt or obfuscate it. You are not required to provide full
	source for all the closed source applications that happen to be
	part of the system with BusyBox, though you can certainly do so
	if you feel like it. But providing source for the GPL licensed
	applications such as BusyBox is manditory.

	<p>

	<b>Accompanied by source</b> generally means you place the full
	source code for all GPL'd products such as BusyBox on a driver CD
	somewhere. Full source code includes the BusyBox ".config" file
	used when your shipping BusyBox binary was compiled.

	<p>

	<b>A written offer</b> generally means that somewhere in the
	docs for your product, you write something like

	<blockquote>
	The GPL source code contained in this product is available as a
	free download from http://blah.blah.blah/
	</blockquote>
	Or you can offer source by writing
	somewhere in the docs for your product something like
	<blockquote>
	If you would like a copy of the GPL source code in this product
	on a CD, please send $9.99 to <address> for the costs of
	preparing and mailing a CD to you.
	</blockquote>
	<p>

	Keep in mind though that if you distribute GPL'd binaries online
	(as is often done when supplying firmware updates), it is highly
	recommended that you make the corresponding source available online
	at the same place. Regardless, you <b>must</b> either make source
	available online (i.e. <b>accompanied by source</b>) and/or inform
	those downloading firmware updates of their right to obtain source
	(i.e. <b>a written offer</b>). Failure to do so is a violation of
	your licensing obligations.


	<p>

	Some people have the mistaken understanding that if they use unmodified
	GPL'd source code, they do not need to distribute anything. This belief
	is not correct, and is not supported by the
	<a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">text of GPL</a>.
	Please do re-read it -- you will find there is no such provision.
	If you distribute any GPL'd binaries, you must also make source available
	as discussed on this webpage.

	<p>

	These days, <a href="http://www.linksys.com/">Linksys</a> is
	doing a good job at complying with the GPL, they get to be an
	example of how to do things right. Please take a moment and
	check out what they do with
	<a href="http://www.linksys.com/download/firmware.asp?fwid=178">
	distributing the firmware for their WRT54G Router.</a>
	Following their example would be a fine way to ensure you have
	fulfilled your licensing obligations.


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