Question

I have written a small app which links against libraries released under the LGPL. All of my source code (C/Lua) will be freely available from my GitHub page. However, due to the nature of my app (must be entirely and trivially portable) and its target audience (non-technical users), I would like to statically link it and distribute it (also from the same GitHub page) as a single standalone executable which can be downloaded and run immediately from any directory. No licenses or .dlls to complicate matters or confuse users.

The problem is that I’m not sure if this is legal. The wording of the LGPL is confusing me. The way I understand it, I can statically link against an LGPL library as long as my source code is distributed as well and comes with a copy of the LGPL. My question is:

Does my source code and a copy of the license have to be distributed with my executable, packed into a single distributable, or does it simply have to be available somewhere? My application does not contain any link or reference to its GitHub page, but that can be amended if necessary.

Thank you for any help!

Answer 1

Relevant sections from the GNU Licenses FAQ

I want to distribute binaries via physical media without accompanying sources. Can I provide source code by FTP? Version 3 of
the GPL allows this; see option 6(b) for the full details. Under
version 2, you’re certainly free to offer source via FTP, and most
users will get it from there. However, if any of them would rather get
the source on physical media by mail, you are required to provide
that.

If you distribute binaries via FTP, you should distribute source via
FTP.

My friend got a GPL-covered binary with an offer to supply source, and made a copy for me. Can I use the offer myself to obtain the
source? Yes, you can. The offer must be open to everyone who has a
copy of the binary that it accompanies. This is why the GPL says your
friend must give you a copy of the offer along with a copy of the
binary—so you can take advantage of it.

Can I put the binaries on my Internet server and put the source on a different Internet site? Yes. Section 6(d) allows this. However, you
must provide clear instructions people can follow to obtain the
source, and you must take care to make sure that the source remains
available for as long as you distribute the object code.

As long as you make it clear where the source is available then you should be ok.