Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by 0x001E84EE 3523 days ago
> Surely the IDE license does not affect the license of code written in the IDE?

Agreed. However, the R programming language and many of its libraries are GPL licensed.

Can someone elaborate how R can be legally used in to develop proprietary or commercial software? RStudio's website [1] lists all of this large companies that apparently use R.

[1]: https://www.rstudio.com/
1 comments
jmcphers 3523 days ago
It's no problem to use GPL software to develop commercial software. If it were the vast majority of software would be open source as some of the most popular compiler toolchains are primarily or wholly open source.

What you cannot do, however, is modify GPL software, as you're then creating a derivative work which must legally also bear the GPL license.

link
0x001E84EE 3522 days ago
Yes, that is correct. My question was about using the R programming language and its libraries rather than RStudio.

If you create a program that uses any of the GPL licensed R libraries, that program must also be GPL licensed [1].

Additionally, the GPL license prohibits using GPL licensed software in proprietary systems [2].

[1]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#IfLibraryIsGPL

[2]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLInProprietarySy...

link