I'm testing Wireshark and before I buy it I want to make sure I can use it at our multiple locations. Does the license allow this? asked 27 Nov '13, 07:57  jrsitman edited 27 Nov '13, 08:18  Gerald Combs ♦♦ |
2 Answers:
Install it as many times and in as many places as you'd like. Wireshark is distributed under the GNU GPLv2. We don't place any restrictions on its use. answered 27 Nov '13, 08:17 Gerald Combs ♦♦ edited 27 Nov '13, 08:34  Jaap ♦ |
You know that you can get Wireshark without buying it, right? You can download it for free; you can get binaries for Windows and OS X (32-bit and 64-bit), and can get the source code. Many Linux distributions provide binary packages in their own packaging systems, as do some *BSDs and Solaris 11. And, as Gerald notes, there are no restrictions on how many machines you can put it on. It's both freeware ("free as in beer") and free software ("free as in speech"). (If somebody's "selling" Wireshark, note that it is illegal for them to restrict the number of machines they can put it on, as per the GNU GPL. If they're just selling standard Wireshark, you might as well just download it. If they've made enhancements, the GPL may require them to make the source code for those enhancements available, and not to restrict whether, for example, the Wireshark developers can incorporate those enhancements into the standard version of Wireshark and give the resulting version away for free. They might also be selling support for Wireshark, but that's a different matter.) answered 28 Nov '13, 12:33  Guy Harris ♦♦ |
