On Fri, Jun 16, 2000 at 05:37:59PM -0700, Jon Stevens wrote:
>
> > They are open source (GPL) as well.
>
> Wait. Not "as well". That is a big difference between FT and a lot of other
> projects. FT is under a BSD'ish license.
open source includes both gpl and bsd licenses..
>
> One problem with the GPL is that if you use a product that has GPL and you
> sell/distribute it to your customers with additions on it, then you must
> also make those additions public as well. That is not the case with FT. With
> FT, the only "major" restriction on the use is that you give credit for the
> code.
>
> For instance, if Kent decided to sell a modified version of FT to his
> customers, then he would also have to make that modified version of FT
> public as well. That is bad business for him if he wants to satisfy his
> investors with proprietary value added product.
You do not have to make the source code public, you just need to provide it
to the customers to whom you distribute modified works. If Kent sells his
modified version, he must include the source code w/ the package he gives to
his customers (or provide a way for them to obtain the source). I, being a 3rd
party, however, have no right to obtain Kent's modified code, since he is not
offering anything to me. If he decides to make his program free, and
puts it on his webpage (or something), then he must also make the source
available. The GPL is not trying to restrict business, it's trying to restrict
closed code. Of course, Kent's customers could then post his code somewhere,
and he would be unable to stop them (since his code is covered under the GPL
as well).
>
> This license issue should be a BIG point. GPL software for use in this type
> of application is almost worthless for most people trying to make a living.
>
> I wish people would wake up and realize the effect the license has on the
> software they are working with. GPL is not a very good solution for
> businesses.
People should know this regardless of the license they use; picking a license
for a project because everyone else is using the same license is asking for
trouble. Personally, i like the GPL. As a programmer, it allows me to create
code that can never be hidden from other people. BSDish licenses, on the other
hand, ARE friendlier to businesses. Each license has it's place. In
freetrade's case, using the GPL wouldn't make much of a difference. You grab
freetrade, modify it, and run it on your server (for customers); this is not
re-distributing, so you can keep the source closed if you like. If you decide
to sell your modified freetrade package, you would be providing the source
anyways, since, afaik, html/php can't be compiled. :) The only difference
would be that you wouldn't be able to relicense your modified FT package, so
you couldn't put a clause in the license saying that your customers cannot
sell/redistribute your modifications. An even better solution for freetrade,
if it were more modular, would be the LGPL. This would keep the freetrade core
under the GPL, but allow you to link (<A HREF=...>? The license refers to
library linking, but html linking is very similar) with freetrade under whichever
license you choose. Thus, if freetrade were just an API (which it isn't, right
now, since it displays complete pages, forcing you to change those pages in the
php code directly), you would be able to create your own page, call a freetrade
function (<html> ... <body> .. <table><tr><td> <? ShowCart(array("blue", "red",
"6", "border")); ?></td></tr>), and you could redistribute your pages under a
closed source license. Likewise, you could provide a wrapper to the freetrade
API to make it behave differently.
Ooops, sorry, got carried away..long night.. :)
>
> > Wonder if the
> > two projects have anything that would work well together.
>
> Even if they did, you could not use the GPL code as a library within FT.
>
> -jon
>
>
>
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>
-Andres Salomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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