// -*- mode:doc; -*- // vim: set syntax=asciidoc: [[legal-info]] Legal notice and licensing ========================== Complying with open source licenses ----------------------------------- All of the end products of OpenADK (toolchain, root filesystem, kernel, bootloaders) contain open source software, released under various licenses. Using open source software gives you the freedom to build rich embedded systems, choosing from a wide range of packages, but also imposes some obligations that you must know and honour. Some licenses require you to publish the license text in the documentation of your product. Others require you to redistribute the source code of the software to those that receive your product. The exact requirements of each license are documented in each package, and it is your responsibility (or that of your legal office) to comply with those requirements. Complying with the OpenADK license ---------------------------------- OpenADK itself is an open source software, released under the http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html[GNU General Public License, version 2] or (at your option) any later version. However, being a build system, it is not normally part of the end product: if you develop the root filesystem, kernel, bootloader or toolchain for a device, the code of OpenADK is only present on the development machine, not in the device storage. Nevertheless, the general view of the OpenADK developer is that you should release the OpenADK source code along with the source code of other packages when releasing a product that contains GPL-licensed software. This is because the http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html[GNU GPL] defines the "'complete source code'" for an executable work as "'all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable'". OpenADK is part of the 'scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable', and as such it is considered part of the material that must be redistributed. Keep in mind that this is only the OpenADK developer opinion, and you should consult your legal department or lawyer in case of any doubt.