I saw a company is using BusyBox and also using Gpl + Lgpl + Mpl packages on it, and then they have there own application running on it. Their application is a closed source package.
You buy the device but its closed source. How come GPL mixed with LGPL+MPL becomes closed source?
I thought the rule is?? Or I am wrong or this following info is wrong?:
GPL: If you use it in your application then you must release your application under the GPL. That doesn't mean you can't also sell it (like they sell Linux CD's) but you must also release the source code for free. That might work for you, but probably not.
LGPL: If you use it in your application then you can still have a closed source proprietary licensed application. But if you modify the LGPL library then you must release your modifications under the LGPL, even though your application can remain closed source.
Best Answer
It is perfectly all right to sell an "aggregrate" of closed-source and open-source software according to the GPL FAQ. If the company compiled a Linux, built their own program on top of it using only LGPL libraries, and sold the resulting product while publishing all GPL/LGPL sources with it, they are not violating the GPL.
The point here is: The GPL does not extend to programs simply running on the same computer and communicating/interacting with the closed-source program. An open-source window manager like BusyBox is of course allowed to manage closed-source windows. As a rule of thumb, the GPL reaches as far as the address space of the licensed code.