You Can Use OpenQM
Under the GPL for Free

The Linux version of OpenQM is available for use or distribution under the terms of the GPL (General Public License). This means that:

1.	You can install and use OpenQM without cost. The GPL permits unrestricted use of a product so licensed. Thus you can install the Linux version of OpenQM and use applications you develop on the openQM copy without payment of a license fee for the use of openQM.
2.	You can study and modify OpenQM. The principal purpose of the GPL is the furtherance of computing knowledge through preservation and study of a common heritage.
3.	You can freely distribute the copy of OpenQM you receive with the applications or improvements you develop provided that you also distribute these under the GPL. You are welcome to give or sell what you create to others provided that you, also, expand the common good by contributing your own knowledge, improvements, or related works to the product. If you prefer to distribute your own creations under a license that is less restrictive than the GPL, you may be able to. Consult the OpenQM.com website for other approved public license types.

When is use of the free GPL license version not permitted?

Fundamentally, while all are permitted to install and use GPL products, you are not permitted to use the GPL licensing option when what you do leads to distribution of OpenQM but does not lead to an increase of the common social good, as intended by the GPL. Specifically:

1.	You cannot use the GPL license version if you do not deliver source of your applications or improvements which is also freely redistributable. The purpose of the GPL is the furtherance of knowledge. If you want to keep your source-code private, and/or do not permit your customer to freely redistribute your work under the GPL, then you must provide your customer with a commercially licensed version of openQM.
2.	You cannot install, or ask your customer to install a GPL version of OpenQM and then install your own product unless that product is also delivered to the user under GPL or an approved variant. In such an instance, you are either redistributing or persuading your customer to act as a distribution agent for you. In such cases, you must provide your customer with a commercially licensed version of openQM, or fully comply with the GPL.
3.	If you develop on commercially licensed QM, you cannot develop an application and then sell or give it for use on an OpenQM engine after the fact. When you compile on a commercial version of QM, your compiled code is a work derived from both your source code and the QM compiler engine. Similarly, if you use any source tokens unique to QM, your source code takes on a derivative quality. Commercial engines are licensed for a single instance of use. The object code and tokens generated follows the same rules as the entire work, and can be moved to another single-instance license. But it cannot be moved to a machine that does not have such a license. Please note that this is a prohibition against developers using commercial QM and not against users of OpenQM.
4.	If you are going to distribute multiple copies of openQM within your company, you will probably need a commercially licensed version of openQM. While the GPL permits unrestricted use, including use on multiple systems owned by you, you need to be very careful that you do not "distribute" the product to others except as provided by the GPL. Local subsidiaries and franchisees are clearly separate business entities and considered distribution rather than use. Similarly, provision of non-GPL-compliant copies to independent contractors under non-GPL terms may constitute unpermitted distribution. When in doubt, have your attorney review your usage for compliance, or purchase a commercial QM license. Our measure of your compliance with the GPL is whether you freely make the work you distribute to additional machines also publicly available as complete source code for use by anyone, including your competitors.
5.	if you want to use any other variant of QM, such as the Windows or BSD variants, you will need a commercially licensed version of QM.

Free commercial-use licenses are also available

Any registered developer of QM may get a free copy of commercial QM for development purposes. There may be instances when educational use of Windows or other variants of openQM may be more desirable than using the open source Linux version. We normally authorize use in these instances at no or nominal cost. Similarly, there may be other not-for-profit uses of these other variants that will be permitted under a no-cost commercial license.