Wireshark-dev: Re: [Wireshark-dev] including a wireshark view in propietary software
So if someone modified Wireshark, they cannot sell that for commercial purpose.
But is it ok if they simply pass that to a partner for free as a coopoeration?
Thanks,
Joshua
On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 11:43 AM, Jaap Keuter <jaap.keuter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Alexander Göbel wrote:
>> Dear Wireshark developers,
>>
>> As a university student I just started working for an IT-engineering
>> chair. They are working on a software they plan to sell commercially.
>> I've read the GNU GPL and your FAQ as well but I still don't feel
>> competent enough to judge my situation here:
>> Would it be possible to include a view of Wireshark in one tab of this
>> program? Wireshark would be installed and run seperately of our program,
>> but our program would start Wireshark and display it as a new tab within
>> the program.
>> I think this can be considered to be "at arm's length", but I'm not
>> really sure.
>> What about just using a .dll in propietary software? The FAQ said that
>> would probably be a bad approach.
>>
>> Nothing of this has been realized yet, it's just in our minds so far.
>> Personally I love the idea of free software, but for this project my
>> hands are tied.
>>
>> Thank you for your efforts!
>> Best wishes
>> Alexander
>
> Hi Alexander,
>
> As the text says "at arm's length", which means something like communicating
> with Wireshark through the channels provided by the underlying OS (like pipes or
> even files) is oke. Incorporating compiled code and use it's external
> interfaces, like including a DLL does make the GNU GPL applicable to your software.
> If you can channel the Wireshark screen output through an OS mechanism into a
> view in your application that probably doesn't make the GNU GPL apply to your
> software.
> So far I haven't seen such integration of an GPL'ed application in another
> program, so I might have missed something.
>
> Thanx,
> Jaap
>
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