Ask HN: Can I sell software that uses Android Debug Bridge?

by brad0 on 1/20/2014, 10:25 AM with 1 comments

I want to sell a product that wraps the existing android debug bridge (adb) with a nice UI and sell it.

I've noticed from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11565689/android-adb-redistribution that I shouldn't include the software in the final executable.

I intend to have my software call the adb instance that the user has already installed separately. It wouldn't be considered redistributing adb as far as I know.

Does anyone know of any issues with this system?

  • by Zigurd on 1/20/2014, 3:12 PM

    Adb source code is distributed under the Apache license. IANAL but even if the T&C for the SDK has restrictions on how the SDK as a binary distribution can be used, that would not affect the use of Apache licensed components of the SDK.

    The choice of using an adb included with your product vs one from the user's SDK could be based on which versions you want to support.