Questions tagged [licensing]

Questions about the implementation of software licenses on software. General questions about open source software licenses should be asked at opensource.stackexchange.com instead. Legal questions about software licenses should be asked at law.stackexchange.com instead.

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License for freeware but closed source application

I have developed a simple application which I want to put release for free but I'm not planning releasing the source code. I want the application to be freely available but I do not want anyone to ...
Giorgi's user avatar
  • 768
17 votes
3 answers
28k views

Using a GPL licensed library in a commercial app [duplicate]

I develop an android application and in my app I use a libary (jar) that I download from the internet. This jar is open-source under the "GNU General Public License v2". I tried to read the text of ...
user13415's user avatar
  • 273
-1 votes
2 answers
329 views

OpenSource license with commerial-use exemptions for the owner

I'm looking for an open source license which grants me additional privileges. Features: Anyone can freely modify, fork, use the code, as long as they make their source changes publicly available. ...
dbkk's user avatar
  • 2,136
21 votes
1 answer
842 views

Why is the warranty disclaimer section of a licence usually (always?) shouted?

For example, the templates provided on the Open Source Initiative website for the 3-clause BSD License, and the MIT License both include an all-caps warranty disclaimer, though the rest of the license ...
John Bartholomew's user avatar
8 votes
7 answers
463 views

Which software licenses should I be aware of? [closed]

Licensing is something that I really haven't paid any attention to; I guess I felt there was no need. However I can't but help thinking that I should. So which are the most common licenses that I, as ...
gablin's user avatar
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10 votes
5 answers
1k views

Picking the right license

I have some trouble with picking the right license for my works. I have a few requirements: Not copyleft like the GNU (L)GPL and allows for redistribution under other licenses Allows other people to ...
orlp's user avatar
  • 2,496
8 votes
1 answer
209 views

Is there a graph with FOSS licenses detailing what can be linked with what?

I'm looking for a chart like this: Basically something that tells you whether an app with a given license can be linked with a library of a given license. Does such a thing exist?
Nathan Osman's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
182 views

Best practices for replacing licensed software with an in-house solution

My company has been licensing a commercial application to fulfill our need for the past few years. The programmers (myself included) have been modifying (with permission) the software to better suit ...
user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
249 views

Application name licensing issue

I started writing an application for Windows Phone marketplace, at the time only making sure that the name I gave it wasn't being used by any other app on the marketplace. I just found out that the ...
Praetorian's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
8k views

Opensource, noncommercial License? [closed]

i want to publish my software under a opensource license with the following conditions: you are allowed to: Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work use a modified version of the code in ...
user avatar
16 votes
7 answers
965 views

How successful is GPL in reaching its goals? [closed]

There are, broadly, two types of FOSS licenses when it relates to commercial usage of the code - let's say the GPL-type and the BSD-type. The first is, broadly, restrictive about commercial usage (by ...
StasM's user avatar
  • 3,367
4 votes
2 answers
367 views

Licencing FOSS for profit

Some projects are available under restrictive FOSS licenses (GPL or AGPL, for example) which preclude them from being used in proprietary projects. The developers can then sell separate commercial ...
TRiG's user avatar
  • 1,172
14 votes
3 answers
1k views

Can I remove all-caps and shorten the disclaimer on my License?

I am using the MIT License for a particular piece of code. Now, this license has a big disclaimer in all-caps: THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ...
Stefano Palazzo's user avatar
12 votes
8 answers
611 views

Do licenses matter if there's nobody around to enforce them?

Suppose that the original creators can't (or won't) enforce a license on their software/code, but that work is still popular. I guess if you want to visualize it, I'll throw out a convoluted ...
Corey's user avatar
  • 1,812
1 vote
1 answer
133 views

Features to generate time expiring [closed]

There are something out of box to generate time expiring in php? For example I need to control the access to the system, I was thinking something to verify every first day of every month, and do this ...
devasia2112's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
475 views

How would somebody uphold a license on "illegal" code? [closed]

First off, I want to say that this is purely hypothetical; it's just a scenario that came to mind. I am not looking for personal legal advice, but rather, I'm trying to gain a better understanding of ...
Corey's user avatar
  • 1,812
1 vote
2 answers
187 views

using GNU GPL v2 software as pointers to solution to problem

I am coding a PHP serial access class and have been taking pointers from the PHP-serial class on Google Code (here). That class is based on PHP 4 and I'm creating a PHP 5 class that allows more ...
Patrick's user avatar
  • 2,922
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Software License Web Application

We are in the process of building a web application for a client and they have inquired about owning the code for the site. We would like to issue a license agreement to the client for use of the code ...
jnolte's user avatar
  • 141
14 votes
2 answers
1k views

How to properly license open source software

I have a project I've been working on which I would like to push into a new, public Github repository as open source. After searching on StackExchange for the right license to use I've settled on the ...
Chris Smith's user avatar
  • 5,248
63 votes
8 answers
21k views

What is the "default" software license?

If I release some code and binaries, but I don't include any license at all with it, what are the legal terms that apply by default (in the US, where I am). I know that I automatically have copyright ...
Tesserex's user avatar
  • 3,025
35 votes
3 answers
16k views

Best Mechanism for Generating License Keys [closed]

What methods / libraries / tools would people suggest for generating license keys (those lovely AAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAA things you put in when you register software)? Any gotchas to look out ...
Jon Hopkins's user avatar
  • 22.8k
25 votes
1 answer
5k views

What's the right way to fork/re-use code from an open source project?

Let's say I am working on an open source project and want to re-use a trivial utility function from another open source project (for example, a file search/replace function). Is it legal to copy the ...
Olivier Lalonde's user avatar
19 votes
6 answers
18k views

Open Source but not Free Software (or vice versa) [closed]

The definition of "Free Software" from the Free Software Foundation: “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free ...
TRiG's user avatar
  • 1,172
4 votes
2 answers
728 views

What does Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL) clause 3 section (A) actually limit?

I've been looking at the Ms-PL license that ASP.NET MVC and DotNetOpenAuth are published under and 3A says this: 3 Conditions and Limitations (A) No Trademark License- This license does not grant ...
gligoran's user avatar
  • 195
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Which Open Source License to choose for an ASP.NET MVC 3 OpenId StarterKit?

I've built a ASP.NET MVC 3 (RC at the moment) site that uses OpenID login system. I was still learning about OpenID while implementing this so I commented the code heavily. The result is a site that ...
gligoran's user avatar
  • 195
53 votes
27 answers
4k views

What is the most egregious waste of money you have seen, and what did you do about it? [closed]

Often we as programmers see large organisations wasting huge sums of money on bloated and inefficient solutions to problems. This pains me greatly because I like organisations to benefit from best of ...
10 votes
5 answers
685 views

Does it matter to you that a software is "available source" but not "open source"

You probably know the list of open source licenses officially approved by the OSI. Most notably I guess would be the GPL, MIT, [insert your favorite license here]. I recently ran into a project which ...
ccpod's user avatar
  • 109
31 votes
7 answers
2k views

Choosing a licence for open source projects

I've done some open source projects, and I plan to do more in the future. So far, I've released all my code under GPL, but I've read a few articles which claim GPL is too restrictive for any code to ...
dr Hannibal Lecter's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
667 views

GPLed Library (EXT JS) Licensing Issue

Good Day Everyone, I am realy out of option for interpreting the GPL for EXTJS for my work/idea/personal project. I can see that this is an active forum I realy hope, I have a closure on this. First ...
Nick Ace's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

AGPL-compatible license

I am using a java library licensed under AGPL3. However, I would like to license my own work as BSD, such that my code could then be integrated in proprietary projects if one strips the library. Will ...
Dan Cirnat's user avatar
40 votes
6 answers
31k views

Can a developer get a discount for Microsoft products? [closed]

If I would start to focus on the .NET platform and be self-employed, then I probably would like to have some Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2010 licenses just for the development ...
Jonas's user avatar
  • 14.9k
14 votes
1 answer
1k views

License requirements for including open source software

In an open source project, a number of other open source libraries have been included to implement needed functionality, some as libraries (LGPL), and some as source code (non-LGPL). The new BSD ...
jholl's user avatar
  • 293
6 votes
3 answers
400 views

Do libraries and frameworks swing more on the GPL or MIT side?

I like the GPL license but the project I'm working on is a more general purpose one that will be used inside other programs. It doesn't run independently like a CMS or application would. So I'm ...
Ermin's user avatar
  • 483
36 votes
6 answers
9k views

What are the Pros and Cons of the GPL? [closed]

I'm looking at licensing some open source software and am looking at the GPL. What are the pros and cons of using this license?
makerofthings7's user avatar
13 votes
6 answers
512 views

What licence should I choose for my project?

I originally thought of creative commons when while reading a book about wordpress (professional wordpress), I learned that I should also specify that the product is provided ... WITHOUT ANY ...
Jiew Meng's user avatar
  • 2,271
22 votes
7 answers
986 views

Does making source code available affect your ability to generate revenue?

We’re working on a .Net framework which ultimately amounts to a single DLL. We intend to charge for commercial use of the framework, but make it free for open source/non-commercial use. The rough ...
dwynne's user avatar
  • 431
3 votes
2 answers
5k views

Who is responsible for software licensing in ITIL?

In a standard ICT Department who is responsible for managing software licenses? I would start by saying that the ICT Manager is accountable for it. But who gets the responsibility, using ITIL as a ...
user avatar
188 votes
3 answers
61k views

Meaning of MIT license

Suppose I use this ActionScript API released under MIT license to build a software: http://www.cove.org/ape/docs/api/ Can I sell that software? Do I need to give the source code of my software away? ...
simplfuzz's user avatar
  • 2,011
12 votes
6 answers
835 views

Best permissive license for a utility library?

I have a small utility library of useful stuff written in Java that I plan on releasing open source. I've been wavering on what license to use. I quite like the BSD license, which is short and easy ...
Evan's user avatar
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