Based on you making your frontend libraries AGPL, I believe any frontend using them would have to be generally compatible with the GPL family (so would also have to be *GPL licensed)
Yeah this seems like a major issue. I think the AGPL is strictly stronger than the GPL so if it was possible to use a GPL or AGPL library from non-GPL code then surely there would be no reason for the LGPL license to exist?
Yeah, unfortunately I think it's debatable whether LGPL is even OK for a closed-source project to use, since IIRC LGPL specifically talks about linking compiled binaries.
I guess there's the argument that transpiled, minified javascript program is a compiled binary? I'd love to know whether these things have been tested in various courts.
LGPL specifically talks about linking compiled binaries.
That's the context where LGPL is used most often, but the license itself is more general than that. In particular 4/d/0 in [1].
AFAIK, LGPL is about replaceability. If you distribute a compiled program (yes, a minified JS program should qualify) then you need to distribute the source of the LGPL part and document a way how the user can replace that LGPL part in your program with their own modified copy.
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Based on you making your frontend libraries AGPL, I believe any frontend using them would have to be generally compatible with the GPL family (so would also have to be *GPL licensed)
Is my understanding incorrect?
Yeah this seems like a major issue. I think the AGPL is strictly stronger than the GPL so if it was possible to use a GPL or AGPL library from non-GPL code then surely there would be no reason for the LGPL license to exist?
Yeah, unfortunately I think it's debatable whether LGPL is even OK for a closed-source project to use, since IIRC LGPL specifically talks about linking compiled binaries.
I guess there's the argument that transpiled, minified javascript program is a compiled binary? I'd love to know whether these things have been tested in various courts.
That's the context where LGPL is used most often, but the license itself is more general than that. In particular 4/d/0 in [1].
AFAIK, LGPL is about replaceability. If you distribute a compiled program (yes, a minified JS program should qualify) then you need to distribute the source of the LGPL part and document a way how the user can replace that LGPL part in your program with their own modified copy.
[1] https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.en.html