Exceptional bundle

As I start up one of several IDEs, I notice the following message in the splash-screen: “GPLv2 with classpath exception.” So what does that mean? Put simply, it means that you can add your own code/libraries to the code of the IDE (or whatever it was that displayed the license) without your own code inheriting the GPL. Without this licensing option, your code would automatically become licensed under the GPL, effectively free to anyone who wanted to use it. Not good if you’re trying to add some specialist extras and expecting to be paid for your effort.

With the barrier to using GPL resources in a commercial solution removed via this license, one can expect more GPL/commercial hybrid solutions to appear and this increases the incentive for commercial interests to put some of their own energy into maintaining the quality of the GPL resources. Everybody wins.

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