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What are the differences between GNU LGPL v2.1 and GNU LGPL v3?

I know I can read the legal text and compare them, but it's a pain to understand these legal stuffs.

Can you give in a few bullet points the major changes in human language :) ?

EDIT: I know the differences between GNU GPL v2 and GNU GPL v3. I want to know the specific changes in GNU LGPL.

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closed as off topic by Robert Harvey May 7 '13 at 16:36


2 Answers

Having an interest in the subject too, I took a look at the two licences. (I should first point out that I am not a lawyer, but have done plenty of contract stuff in past lives.)

The key differentiator between LGPL v2.1 and LGPL v3 seems to be one of structure. In outline, LGPL v2.1 was somewhat of a stand-alone licence, whereas LGPL v3 opens with:


In OO terms, LGPL v3 inherits from the GPL v3, overriding certain bits to allow redistribution of the LGPL-covered software as part of a "Combined Work" without requiring the release of the source (for the rest of the combined work).

So, if your prospective users might be scared off by GPL v3, then maybe it makes sense to release under LGPL v2.1.


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You could look at what Simon Phipps blogged when OpenOffice.org went to LGPL v3.

I guess this is a major point:


This is probably related to the Novell-Microsoft deal which caused "some disturbance in the force" in the open source community.

It also seems that the Free Software Foundation has made some clarifications regarding the definition of a program.

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