GNU code?

I've never really looked it up but if you build your whole system around something like pear - is there any legal requirement to make it open source or anything?

One would think not, since many use php and the like but don't make their systems open source.

Comments welcome!

This has come up a few trimes before.

If you base your system on GPL'd code, then you have to leave the copyright etc, and open source that portion, you don't HAVE to open source your own code.
If you can extraploate your code to call the GPL stuff or vice versa so that they are easily dinstinguisahble components.

Open source doesn't mean give your code away FOC BTW, you just have to give the code, and the right to modify it, to your customers, or you can offer a maintenance agreement/contract

HTH
--Ax

If you base your system on GPL'd code then your system must also be GPL'd, unless it can be explicitly shown that your system is a seperate entity. For example, if you use source code from GPL'd program A within program B, or A is a shared library which B dynamically links to, then the only way you can legally distribute B is by releasing it under the GPL. Any other restriction or licensing term would be copyright violation.

However, I'm not sure if this answers your quesiton, since PEAR's licensing is Free (though not compatible with the GNU GPL), and PHP/PEAR is not GNU software at all...

Moved from the Lounge, since this seems to be a question about copyright law and F/OSS, and Business Help would be a more appropriate forum for such a discussion.