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Understanding the Implications of GNU Licenses
The LGPL is intended to allow use of libraries in your applications, even if
you don’t distribute source code for your application. The LGPL stipulates,
however, that users must have access to the source code of the library you
use and that users can make use of modified versions of those libraries.
The LGPL covers most Linux libraries, including the C library (libc.a).
Thus, when you build your application on Linux by using the GCC compiler,
your application links with code from one or more libraries that the LGPL
covers. If you want to distribute your application in only binary form, you
need to pay attention to LGPL.
One way to meet the intent of the LGPL is to provide the object code for
your application and a makefile that relinks your object files with any
updated Linux libraries the LGPL covers.
A better way to satisfy the LGPL is to use dynamic linking, in which your
application and the library are separate entities, even though your applica-
tion calls functions in the library when it runs. With dynamic linking, users
immediately get the benefit of any updates to the libraries without ever
having to relink the application.
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