python+py2exe+pygame licensing ?

[Pete Shinners]

Andrea Griffini wrote:
> This is something that always puzzled me. If I include
> an LGPL'ed part and a new version of that part is not
> 100% interface-compatible with an old one (as sometimes
> happens with specific libraries), am I forced to allow
> my clients to adapt to the new version ? Am I forced
> to provide upgrades forever ?

Pygame is LGPL specifically so you can use it in close-sourced projects. 
For an example of a shareware pygame project, see BaseGolf, 
http://alitius.com .

In a nutshell, the LGPL allows you to use the library "as-is". If you do 
make any changes to pygame itself, you must release those changes under 
a compatible license (or maybe the exact same license, unsure).

Once you have made those changes available your obligation is finished. 
If future generations want to take you changes and apply them to a 
modern pygame, the burden is on them.

Of course, since Pygame itself is written on top of basic SDL, you could 
actually add quite a bit of functionality that would still be considered 
part of your game, and you need not release that. As long as you are not 
recompiling pygame or modifying things inside .../site-packages/pygame 
you don't need to release source.

Of course, if you do release the source for your game, it helps ensure 
future generations could get your game running on modern computers. Or 
just play it on other platforms than you originally intended (osx, 
linux, bsd, etc)