"Free" icons

I’ve written a small utility for myself which I’ve now decided to release publically. It will most likely end up as an open source project, but in preparation for releasing it I’ve been prettying it up.

…or at least I’ve been trying to…

A major stumbling block for the hobbyist (which is how I class my personal developments – yes I do write code for a living) developer is a lack of decent artwork/icons that don’t cost a fortune.

Sure, if I’m going to release a piece of software commercially I could justify paying for some artwork, but for a freeware/open source project I can’t.

Surely there will be some resources out there, but try googling for “free icons” and see how far you get!

Viral Licensing

Another thing I’m not sure about is whether I can use GPL icons in a non-GPL app? I’m pretty sure I can’t unless there is specific exemption, or they are LGPL. Stuff licensed under Creative Commons is more obvious (although harder to find), but it’s not completely clear.