[QGIS-Developer] Microsoft Store distribution for QGIS

[Greg Troxel]

David Strip <qgis-dev at stripfamily.net> writes:

> On 8/25/2026 4:54 PM, Greg Troxel wrote:
>
>>  Great, the next thing to check is if the terms are actually compatible.
>> Enough people are fuzzy on licensing and willing to break the rules
>> because they think app stores are important, that one can't conclude
>> it's ok.
>
> Usual caveat - I am not a lawyer.
> The publisher agreement is here.
>
> The relevant section appears to be 3b - 
>
>  (b)   Third-Party Rights/Open-Source Licenses.  Your Offer and Offer Assets must not infringe or misappropriate any
>  intellectual property or personal right of any third party. If you license any portion of your Offer from a third
>  party or under any open-source license, you are solely responsible for compliance with such terms and for ensuring
>  that Microsoft, in its capacity as your agent or commissionaire, has the necessary rights to perform its obligations
>  to you under this Agreement. You are, at your sole cost and expense, responsible for securing, reporting, and
>  maintaining all necessary rights, clearances, and consents and paying all licensing fees (including applicable public
>  performance license fees or other consideration associated with providing music or video (and all content embodied
>  therein) in and through your Offer), and for undertaking all related reporting obligations.
>
> For open source licenses, MS appears to have removed itself from the licensing pathway between the person/organization
> submitting the product and the customer. It is thus incumbent on the submitter to provide the means for meeting the
> license requirements, such as providing links to the license and source code. Perhaps these links could be in the listing
> in the MS Store, or in the about screen of the app. This is already the case for the license in QGIS. 
>
> Obviously an actual lawyer would need to verify this interpretation. 

There are two sets of terms to consider.  One is the agreement between
the "app developer" and MS, and the other is between MS and people that
obtain software from the store.

The latter I think is at:
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-mt/store/b/terms-of-sale

which does say

  12. Software Licences and Use Rights.

  Software and other Digital Content, Digital Services and Additional
  Services made available to you through the Store are licensed, not
  sold, to you. Applications downloaded directly from the Store are
  subject to the Standard Application Licence Terms (“SALT”) unless
  different licence terms are provided with the application, with the
  exception of applications downloaded from the Office Store, which are
  not governed by the SALT and have separate license terms that are
  provided with the application.)

This is a key point and seems ok.

  Digital Content and Digital Services and Additional Services obtained
  through the Store are subject to the Usage Rules for Digital
  Goods. You understand and acknowledge that your rights with respect to
  Digital Content, Digital Services and Additional Services are limited
  by the Terms of Sale, copyright law and the Usage Rules for Digital
  Goods. Software licences purchased through the Store are subject to
  the licence agreement that accompanies the software, and you will be
  required to agree to the licence agreement before you purchase,
  download or install the software. Any reproduction or redistribution
  of Digital Content, Digital Services and Additional Services not in
  accordance with the relevant licence terms or usage rules, and
  applicable law is expressly prohibited and may result in severe
  penalties. Violators risk prosecution to the maximum extent of the
  law.

This "Usage Rules" bit sounds quite possibly not OK.  The link does not
load for me.

  Please contact Microsoft Store support if you would like a copy of the
  applicable licence agreement or warranty for boxed software, at no
  cost, before you open any software packaging.

  Other Terms and Conditions. In addition to software and other
  downloadable Products, Microsoft may offer to you other Products and
  Additional Services available in the Store, subject to separate end
  user licence agreements, terms of use, terms of service or other terms
  and conditions. If you purchase, install or use those Products or
  Additional Services, you may be required to also accept those terms as
  a condition of purchase, installation or use.



I think a big open question is if someone downloads e.g. gimp from the
MS Online Store, can they then make a copy of those bits and send them
to someone else?  Or are there technical barriers to exercising one's
rights under the Free Software license?