Ian Lurie wrote: > No. We charge clients to install it but have never sold it on a per-license > basis. Like a lot of apps, it grew organically out of a need for a small, > simple CMS for smaller clients. In the past year we've worked to make the > code less ugly and more easily reused... > > The GNU license works for this, correct? As long as we don't sell the > software itself, we're complying?
GPL is a bit tricky. There is a reason why it is called viral. Any code that is released under the GPL is can be used, copied and redistributed by anyone. But if you redistribute it you have to redistribute the source with it. You are also free to modify the source. You do not have to make public the changes you made to the source. There is a point where these to rules conflict, and that is where you redistribute the application while you have made changes to the source. In that case, you have to distribute the source of the entire application, including all changes you made to it. Off course, since you are the original writers of the application you can choose to go for a double licensing scheme. Release one version under the GPL and keep another version for yourself. That way you do not have to release the source for every change you make to the system. But you will also not be able to incorporate any fixes/enhancements somebody else made to the GPL version, because those changes will be GPL'ed and can therefore only be included in GPL'ed applications. This part of the license is what makes the GPL viral. If you dan't want any of these hassles about opening/closing etc., just go for the BSD licence. It is the archetypical open source licence, and it gives much more freedom for everyone. And you can understand the license without the help of a mailinglist. Jochem ______________________________________________________________________ Your ad could be here. Monies from ads go to support these lists and provide more resources for the community. http://www.fusionauthority.com/ads.cfm FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
