Imagine I'm writing an application that uses your library. If my application uses a library that's released under the GPL then I have to release my entire application under the GPL too. If my application uses a library that's released under the LGPL then I have to release that library under the terms of the LGPL, but my application can be under a different license if I want it to be. That can be a closed source commercial license, or Creative Commons, or Public Domain, or anything.tovishalck wrote:What is the difference between GPL & LGPL? As I mentioned, we are going to put it up as Open Source under the GPL license. Will that be a problem? The 3 scripts of Yahoo, Gmail & Hotmail are already GPLed.
I would say the real difference is that if you release the library as GPL then other open source apps might use it but noone else will. If you release it under the LGPL then anyone writing an application that needs it's functionality might use it.
One thing to note though: if you're using libraries that are under the GPL in your library then you have no choice, you have to release your library under the GPL too.