Need a license
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:30 pm
I'm vaguely familiar with BSD, GPL, LGPL, etc...hopefully someone can shed some light on this subject for me...
I need a license that:
- Widely accepted as open source which programmers want to use
- Disuades FREE as in speech and beer and promotes FREE as in speech only
- Requires any changes, to be returned back to the community
I want to release some framework code I've been working on to the community, but I also want to make a profit at it, commercial software is always better. Sometimes. Mine will be anyways.
I don't like LGPL as it's so loose, you can use it and never have to acknowledge ever using it. I want something in return for my labour as it's hundreds of hours I've spent so far and likely thousands more to come (testing, unit tests, docs, code, etc, etc...takes time).
I like the GPL because this framework would be possibly used like MySQL.
I want people who use the library freely to at least payback in someway:
- Code changes, enhancments, etc
- Acknowledgement of my software being used
Because it's a framework, building ontop of it will likely require most of any application built on top to be released as open source as well. There is no using it externally as a library, so yes, the assumption is, you use it, your app needs to be open sourced as well.
If this is unacceptable, I think a nominal fee for commercial use is in order.
Why? Because I feel money makes the world go round and usually results in higher quality, at least it iwll with me or anyone I employ in the future. Being a framework obviously it's going to be extended, whether that code is then considered a core part of the library being extended (thus requiring you return that code to community) or whether your extending your application code is highly debatable. So I'm not sure GPL cuts the mustard either.
Like I said, I have no quarrels making code open source, but most licenses leave me feeling a bit "used an unappreciated".
Don't bother asking what or why you would use my framework for, over say something free like:
- Zend
- Symphony
- etc, etc
Leave the marketing up to me
So, back to the original question...
What license are you aware of which might meet my requirements???
Thanks
Cheers
I need a license that:
- Widely accepted as open source which programmers want to use
- Disuades FREE as in speech and beer and promotes FREE as in speech only
- Requires any changes, to be returned back to the community
I want to release some framework code I've been working on to the community, but I also want to make a profit at it, commercial software is always better. Sometimes. Mine will be anyways.
I don't like LGPL as it's so loose, you can use it and never have to acknowledge ever using it. I want something in return for my labour as it's hundreds of hours I've spent so far and likely thousands more to come (testing, unit tests, docs, code, etc, etc...takes time).
I like the GPL because this framework would be possibly used like MySQL.
I want people who use the library freely to at least payback in someway:
- Code changes, enhancments, etc
- Acknowledgement of my software being used
Because it's a framework, building ontop of it will likely require most of any application built on top to be released as open source as well. There is no using it externally as a library, so yes, the assumption is, you use it, your app needs to be open sourced as well.
If this is unacceptable, I think a nominal fee for commercial use is in order.
Why? Because I feel money makes the world go round and usually results in higher quality, at least it iwll with me or anyone I employ in the future. Being a framework obviously it's going to be extended, whether that code is then considered a core part of the library being extended (thus requiring you return that code to community) or whether your extending your application code is highly debatable. So I'm not sure GPL cuts the mustard either.
Like I said, I have no quarrels making code open source, but most licenses leave me feeling a bit "used an unappreciated".
Don't bother asking what or why you would use my framework for, over say something free like:
- Zend
- Symphony
- etc, etc
Leave the marketing up to me
So, back to the original question...
What license are you aware of which might meet my requirements???
Thanks
Cheers