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    So are you saying it is not ethical to learn how to implement something from an open source project? Commented Jun 24, 2011 at 23:56
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    @Chris: It's not ethical to create a derived work from an open source project and release it for sale, contrary to the author's intent as demonstrated by the license. If you can't adhere to the license, and instead are skirting around it... ew. Commented Jun 25, 2011 at 4:02
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    I'm not trying to avoid the licence(why I asked the question), but I wondered what the situation was regarding issues like this. Is there a time limit or amount of difference between two pieces of work that will stop it being a derived work? Otherwise it seems that one cannot use knowledge that is learnt from studying open source code? Commented Jun 26, 2011 at 13:58
  • there's no stopping you from selling an application based on open source code. In fact, the definition of open source (given by the Open Source Initiative) explicitly allows this. But you need to comply with the license, which is the OP's dilemma. The terms of the App Store and the GPL conflict, which is the problem here. Commented Jun 26, 2011 at 19:43