What is GDAL / OGR ?

from the FAQ    http://trac.osgeo.org/gdal/wiki/FAQ

GDAL name is usually used to name one of following:

• project of translation libraries for raster (GDAL) and vector (OGR) data formats, so in this case GDAL = GDAL + OGR
• translator library for raster geospatial data formats.

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An underlying engine, used alone and in other projects.

MIT license - components have varying licenses. (not GPL/LGPL)