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My company is afraid to allow Linux because of the fear of license violations. (not to mention SCO) I thought that was an ultra-conservative attitude until I tried to read the license documentation. Really, I can't understand even the FAQ's!<br />
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So help me get the general concept. &nbsp;I don't have a model of the general principle.<br />
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Let's say I want to write a program in C++ and then sell it to various customers. I'm going to use the compiler, I'm going to link in the libraries. I don't want to give the software away as open source.<br />
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I can't do it, right. Even if I'm willing to pay some licensing fee. I shouldn't use open source to develop commercial software? Is that right?
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My company is afraid to allow Linux because of the fear of license violations. (not to mention SCO) I thought that was an ultra-conservative attitude until I tried to read the license documentation. Really, I can't understand even the FAQ's!

So help me get the general concept.  I don't have a model of the general principle.

Let's say I want to write a program in C++ and then sell it to various customers. I'm going to use the compiler, I'm going to link in the libraries. I don't want to give the software away as open source.

I can't do it, right. Even if I'm willing to pay some licensing fee. I shouldn't use open source to develop commercial software? Is that right?

More about GNU licenses

A Linux distribution is an operating system made as a software collection based on the Linux kernel and, often, on a package management system and are available for a variety of systems. A typical Linux distribution comprises a Linux kernel, GNU tools and libraries, additional software, documentation, a window system (the most common being the X Window System), a window manager, and a desktop environment. Most Linux systems are open-source software made available both as compiled binaries and in source code form, allowing modifications to the original software. Over three hundred distributions are in active development, including commercially backed distributions (such as Fedora, openSUSE and Ubuntu) and community-driven distributions (such as Debian, Slackware, Gentoo and Arch Linux).

Linux Distributions

Linux is a UNIX-like open source operating system with hundreds of distinct distributions, including: Fedora, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, Gentoo, CentOS, and Arch Linux. Linux is generally associated with web and database servers, but has become popular in many niche industries and applications.