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I have built an application using Windows Forms Desktop Application in C++/CLI, I am also using NuGet Package for MySQL.data as well as I am using MySQL code for the application.

I need to add a license to the project so which license should I add??

Windows Forms comes under MIT License

NuGet Package comes under Apache 2.0 license according to Wikipedia

MySQL code and connector comes under GPL v2 license

Also I am confused if Windows Forms Application uses .NET or .NET Framework and both are under what type of License

superflash
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  • Anyone please.? – superflash Jul 05 '21 at 03:10
  • I would be very glad if someone could please help me out in this situation – superflash Jul 05 '21 at 17:14
  • Could you clarify what you mean by "I am using MySQL code for the application"? Do you literally mean you're taking code which is currently part of MySQL and copying it into your application? – MadHatter Jul 07 '21 at 06:05
  • I am using C++/CLI to use the MySQL.data dll to send queries and receive data from MySQL server. I have written MySQL command in c++ code – superflash Jul 07 '21 at 07:08
  • So your program is all your own code, but dynamically links to the MySQL library? – MadHatter Jul 07 '21 at 07:10
  • Yes, there are functions provided by the dll to call those queries – superflash Jul 07 '21 at 07:29
  • See also this related QA. It's a bit old but maybe it sheds some light on the MySQL connectors: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1766205/mysql-connectors-and-licensing – Brandin Dec 09 '21 at 10:41
  • See also this FAQ which explains the "FLOSS exception" for the MySQL GPL connectors. The page also links to newer LGPL client libraries, if you need to use those instead. https://mariadb.com/kb/en/licensing-faq/ – Brandin Dec 09 '21 at 10:43

1 Answers1

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I am not familiar with the packages you have listed, but you have confirmed that one of them is a library, so I will assume all the others are.

There is debate about whether dynamically-linking your work to a library makes your work a derivative, in copyright terms, of the library. We have questions here that present the arguments that it does and that it doesn't, but the answer at the moment is that nobody knows.

Personally, I believe that it does, and in any case it's a safer bet to behave as if it does until the question is resolved. The MIT and Apache licences oblige you to preserve copyright notifications and some licence text, although they don't require that the derivative work be covered by those licences. The GPL has more obligations, which include applying the GPL to the derivative work as a whole. So on this analysis, the answer to

I need to add a license to the project so which license should I add?

is "GPLv2".

MadHatter
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