Re: I am the RD of ASUS, want to confirm the Debian license

[Walter Landry <wlandry@caltech.edu>]

刘欢 <appleeatworms@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dears,
> 
> Sorry to use a private email,The company's mailbox can not send mail to @
> list.debian.org
> 
> We are developing a laptop test software, hoping to use Debian as the
> operating environment, and pre-installed in the user's computer.
> According to Debian lisence, we do not have to pay for it, just open the
> Debian source code we use.
> But whether we need open source our test software.I did not find the
> relevant instructions on the official website.
> We do not want to open source our software, because it will involve the
> interests of some third-party vendors.

If you are using any packages from the 'non-free' or 'contrib'
repositories, then you are going to have to look at the licenses of
all of those packages.  They can have all sorts of restrictions on
what you can do.

If you are using only packages from the 'main' repository, then Debian
makes a good faith effort to make sure that everything in that
repository complies with the Debian Free Software Guidelines.

  https://www.debian.org/social_contract

This includes the clause

  9. License Must Not Contaminate Other Software

That will often cover the kind of use I think you are envisioning.
Please note that Debian is largely a volunteer effort and does not
guarantee that they did a good job vetting the licenses.

With that said, it also somewhat depends on how your test software is
written.  For example, if your software links with GPL-licensed
software, then you may be required to give out the source of your test
software to anyone who gets the binaries.

So what you want to do is at least plausible.  What you need to do now
is sit down with a lawyer and get answers specific to your situation.
Because I am definitely not a lawyer.

Hope that helps,
Walter Landry
wlandry@caltech.edu