GPL Linking exception or transformation to LGPL?

[Jos van den Oever]

On 06/14/2015 02:59 PM, Christophe Conil wrote:
> Hi together,
>
> First, congrats for what you did with with Calligra! I'm a everyday user
> :-) To introduce myself in 2 words: My name is Christophe, I'm french/german,
> 30 years old, and trying to create a software company right now.
>
> I'm developing an online service (Not a spreadsheet, but some kind of
> teamwork online tool.) and I'd like to use one component of Calligra Sheets
> inside it (The formula component.). I managed to identify a finite amount
> of files I would need for this. Please find the filelist attached .
>
> My question is: Is there any chance to get a license modification on those
> files to get a GPL linking exception? I guess less likely a license change
> to LGPL? I'm willing to provide any changes I do to those files and to
> provide (if needed) a standalone linking library of it, but I'd like to
> call this library from a proprietary QT environment.
>
> I would be very thankful if anybody is able to give me a hint on how to
> proceed, or give me a contact I could discuss an agreement with.

Hello Christophe,

GPL allows you to re-use parts of Calligra that are under GPL to create 
an executable that you run on your own computers, e.g. your servers. In 
GPL, there is no restriction on people accessing that executable via the 
network if you do not distribute the binaries.

Having your improvements flow back to Calligra still would be nice of 
course.

Cheers,
Jos

http://www.aberlawfirm.com/2011/07/04/agpl-and-what-every-saas-company-should-know-about-it/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affero_General_Public_License