[sllug-members]: Software Licenses, Repositories

[Corey Edwards]

On Wed, 2006-10-18 at 00:32 -0600, Steven Retz wrote:
> I have some software I want to give out to the community.  The
> protocol I want to just give away.  I would like to have two licensing
> models: 1) open source, free to use if you do not charge for you
> software.  2) commercial, if you charge I want some money myself. 
> 
> I am wondering what is the possible standard licenses that handle this
> already, and also where can I host the code, such as sourceforge.org?

First off, I want to clarify that *using* software and *distributing*
software are two entirely separate beasts. For the most part, Open
Source deals with distribution and leaves use out of the question. The
GPL specifically does so. If you're trying to craft a license to /use/
the software, you're really looking for an End User License Agreement
(EULA), in which case ... no, my mom was right. If you can't say
something nice, don't say anything at all.

So carrying on assuming you really meant "distribute" instead of
"use"...

Using a license which satisfies your criteria would not qualify for
inclusion on Sourceforge because it does not follow the Open Source
Definition[1]. Specifically it fails the first requirement. "Open
Source" and "as long as you don't charge money for it" are orthogonal.

        
        1. Free Redistribution
        The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving
        away the software as a component of an aggregate software
        distribution containing programs from several different sources.
        The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such
        sale.

You do have a few options. You could write your own license and run it
through a legal team. This is likely to be expensive and time consuming.

You could look at the way Dan's Guardian uses the GPL[2]. They license
their software strictly under the GPL but place restrictions on who can
download it. The logic can get a little confusing, but supposedly RMS
himself has given them the thumbs up as far as GPL compliance.

You could use a Creative Commons[3] license, probably the
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike[4] license if I were to guess. That
would preclude anyone from making money with your code, thus forcing
them to negotiate other terms if they wished to.

And finally, there's always the option of dual licensing. You can give
away a "Free Version" which is GPL or some other OSS license, and then
have a "Pro Version" which is licensed. Perhaps you reserve certain
features from the free version, ala Zimbra[5]. Or you could sell rights
to distribute under non-OSS terms, much like the Asterisk Business
Edition. As long as you're the sole copyright holder, the sky's the
limit.

HTH,

Corey

1. http://opensource.org/docs/definition.php
2. http://dansguardian.org/?page=copyright2
3. http://creativecommons.org/
4. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/
5. http://www.zimbra.com/products/product_editions.html
6. http://www.digium.com/en/products/software/abe.php
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