If you put it under an opensource license, anyone is free to copy and modify and redistribute it, without your permission. That's how opensource works. I mean, *hopefully* they contribute, but you can't stop them from making their own fork either.
The only risk of being "ripped off" is if somebody changes the attribution -- i.e. removes the license, changes the license, tries to take credit for having invented the code somehow. Plain old plagiarism, in other words. In that case, they're in violation of the license, and you can take them to court for such abuses. But the chance of it happening is pretty slim. Most of the world understands open source licenses, and knows not to try something so stupid. Those who do usually end up getting sued by places like the Software Freedom Law Center (http://www.softwarefreedom.org/). Not something to lose sleep over. The main question you need to ask is: do you want a license that is Apache/BSD like, or GPL-like? That's the great philosophical divide. You can read all about it on the web. On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 12:52 PM, James Elsey <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks Juan, > > Can you recommend the most appropriate license to use? > > I'm developing a game, primarily to help learn some new technologies/ > approaches, I want to make it free (hosted on GAE), and would like > people to see the source code and contribute in a good way such as > constructive criticism and suggestions. I would like to protect myself > from being "ripped off" as much as possible > > Thanks > > On Sep 20, 6:46 pm, "Juan M. Rodriguez" <[email protected]> wrote: >> Hey James, >> >> That's the whole idea behind Free Software Projects. Choose your license >> wisely. >> >> The idea behind Free Software Projects is that users can Fork your project >> if they need to. >> They legally can't pretend it to be theirs though, because they must retain >> authorship of your code. >> >> They may financially benefit from it, but depending on your license, the >> restrictions you use (Such as forcing them to share back any modifications) >> would discourage most to do so. >> >> Hope to have been of any help. >> >> >> >> On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 12:34 PM, James Elsey <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Hi, >> >> > Is it possible to restrict access to SVN / Wiki in any way? Whilst I'm >> > creating a free application, I want to avoid having people take my >> > source code, pretend it to be theirs, and financially benefit from it >> >> > -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> > "Project Hosting on Google Code" group. >> > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> > [email protected]<google-code-hosting%[email protected]> >> > . >> > For more options, visit this group at >> >http://groups.google.com/group/google-code-hosting?hl=en. >> >> -- >> Ing. Juan M. Rodriguez Moreno >> Desarrollador de Sistemas Abiertos >> Sitio:http://proyectofedora.org/mexico > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Project Hosting on Google Code" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/google-code-hosting?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Project Hosting on Google Code" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-code-hosting?hl=en.
