Could you explain how your apparently proprietary licensing is compatible with using GPL code? It seems to me that anything that links your proprietary code with GPL code would be completely impossible to distribute legally.

Or are all the runtime components of your software available under GPL compatible Free software licences?

I don't see any mention of GPL in his post.

http://www.sqlite.org/copyright.html
http://xmlsoft.org/FAQ.html
http://www.lua.org/license.html

That is a very good point, none of the listed projects are GPLed. However, the SDK website does say: and goes on to say It may be that that actually means any non-copyleft open source codebase, but that's certainly not what it says.

Well, ok Sue them to mention they're not GPL.

The concern is that if their runtime isn't GPL compatible (and it doesn't look like it is), then encouraging people to just use 'any Open Source codebase' runs the risk of anyone taking them at their word and doing just that winding up on the wrong side of the licence.

Binary is the program that you run, eg. calculator.exe, but you cannot see the original programming in relatively human-readable code such as C++ etc, as it has been compiled into computer friendly machine code. Trust me, machine code is not as easy to read.

The source code is where you an see the programming in whichever language used, eg. C++, but it will not run until it has been compiled to a binary.

Hope that helps.

A programmer (almost always) writes her program as "source code". Humans can read this and can modify it to do what they want.

Some languages, like C, are then "compiled" to a "binary" that is executable on the computer. This binary executable ("calculator.exe" in Thor's example) can be run by the computer, but it isn't human readable and can't really be modified by others. These binaries can stand alone by themselves and can be distributed without any extra stuff. They also are usually limited to the specific architecture (CPU type) that they were compiled for. If you want to use a compiled app on a different CPU (Intel -> ARM) and OS (Windows -> Linux), you need to compile it for the other CPU (architecture) or OS. Getting a binary for your favorite app on your favorite OS / architecture can be quite a challenge sometimes, especially when the app is closed source and the source code isn't available.

Other languages, like php, java and python, are "interpreted" languages, and they never get compiled to a binary (although sometimes, in order to get better speed, they get compiled just before they are run, which is something called Just In Time compilation or JIT). They always remain as source code. These languages can run on all sorts of architectures without recompiling, but they need something called a "runtime" to work, and that runtime is usually written in a compiled language, and so you need a runtime for every architecture / OS that you want to use your app on. You may have the source code for your favorite interpreted app.... BUT... Getting a runtime for your favorite interpreted language can be quite difficult sometimes, especially if the runtime is proprietary, which is why there's a fairly long thread about getting Java for Maemo.

There are some languages that are somewhere in-between, and airplay is one of those languages. It compiles your app to a binary (both for speed and for protecting your source code from modification), but that binary doesn't need to be recompiled for other architectures or OSes. That's because you need the airplay runtime, which is compiled for the specific architectures / OSes. So depending on your philosophy, airplay is the best of both worlds, or the worst

To add to Qole's reply, closed source is when you just get the binary and cannot change it.

Another advantage of having the source code is being able to optimize the code or reprogram parts or make improvements. Very useful when the original programmer has given up on it and moved on. You can still compile a binary and only distribute that, if you don't want the source code being modified for whatever reason, such as commercial software where money is being made.

Source Code == Word Document, you can change the text
Binary == Printout, final copy.


try fixing a typo in a magazine.
with open source you can just edit the document and reprint.

Of course, it is entirely possible to make money with Open Source software; indeed in the early days the Free Software Foundation used to make money selling their software.