Hi Dalibor, thanks, very good comments.
I may have again asked for quite a theoretical problem here. If there is a disaegreement with a client over what was agreed I consider ourselves dropping the ball considerably as well, but I want to safeguard myself against the few people that habitually disagree with suppliers. I guess, if they don't pay I want to be able to write off the money at least. That is mentally a bit easier, if they can't use it then! Thanks again for your comments, Jochen On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 2:23 PM, Dalibor Andzakovic < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Jochen, > > > > The way I read your problem would be that yes you do need to keep the code > on your staging server unless > > 1) The client has explicitly asked for maintenance and has agreed to > fund the development. > > 2) You’re deploying the changes as a part of routine maintenance as > agreed with the client > > > > What this boils down to is your agreement with your client. Say you’ve been > contracted to developed a site for a client. You’ve recommended to base said > site on $CMS_FRAMEWORK which is licensed under OSS license and they’ve > agreed (and even let you open source the plugins you’ve developed as a part > of the project). Project delivered on time and under budget (rare I know) > and client is happy (frequent occurrence if you know what you’re doing). > Further down the line there is a serious bug found in your $CMS_FRAMEWORK > and client’s site should be upgraded. > > There are couple of options now: > > 1) Explain to the client that there’s been a patch for the > $SERIOS_ISSUE, explain the risks/reasons for the patch and let the client > make the decision. If they agree proceed with the work if not let it be. > > 2) Patch the code as part of agreed maintenance (look up MS patch > Tuesday) > > 3) Patch the code and let the client know that you’ve done some free > maintenance to score some brownie points (marketing types call this a loss > leader). *Make sure you don’t disrupt their operation* > > > > Did I mention that it’s comes down to the agreement with the client? > > > > IANAL, YMMW etc... > > > > Dali > > > > PS if it’s not in writing it’s not agreed > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Jochen Daum > *Sent:* Monday, 27 July 2009 10:48 a.m. > *To:* PHPUG > *Subject:* [phpug] [OT] legal: retain ownership of code until paid and > open source licence > > > > Hi all, > > > I'm looking for experiences with the following problem: > > we're distributing most of our code under open source licences to clients > and I wonder if anyone has had experiences with the following scenario: > > - Project get developed and delivered under open source licence to client > on clients server > - Later, a round of maintenance is developed and rolled out to the clients > staging server. > - Clients disputes nature of maintenance request and withholds payment > > Now, normally we have a clause in our contract that we withhold the licence > of source code until it is paid. I found a similar clause in Egressive's > contract here: > http://www.phpug.org.nz/index.php/Business_Terms_and_Conditions and our > own contract has pretty much an identical clause: > > "3.1 The Supplier, subject to payment in full of all owing, grants the > Purchaser a non-exclusive licence in respect of all pre-existing material of > the Supplier, which comprises the Agreement Type upon completion of The > Project , ..." > > But after completion of the maintenance we would have distributed open > source code already? > > Do I need to keep code on my own staging server at all times to get around > this? > > Kind Regards, > > Jochen Daum > > Chief Automation Officer > Automatem Ltd > > Phone: 09 630 3425 > Mobile: 021 567 853 > Email: [email protected] > Skype: jochendaum > Website: www.automatem.co.nz > http://twitter.com/automatem > http://www.xing.com/go/invite/3425509.181107 > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
