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.
1,339
questions
19
votes
3
answers
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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 ...
17
votes
3
answers
28k
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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 ...
-1
votes
2
answers
329
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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. ...
21
votes
1
answer
842
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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 ...
8
votes
7
answers
463
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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 ...
10
votes
5
answers
1k
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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 ...
8
votes
1
answer
209
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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?
4
votes
4
answers
182
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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 ...
3
votes
2
answers
249
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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 ...
9
votes
3
answers
8k
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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 ...
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 ...
4
votes
2
answers
367
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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 ...
14
votes
3
answers
1k
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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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
1
vote
2
answers
187
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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 ...
4
votes
2
answers
1k
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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 ...
14
votes
2
answers
1k
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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 ...
63
votes
8
answers
21k
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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
19
votes
6
answers
18k
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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 ...
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 ...
4
votes
2
answers
1k
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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 ...
53
votes
27
answers
4k
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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 ...
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 ...
4
votes
2
answers
667
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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 ...
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 ...
40
votes
6
answers
31k
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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 ...
14
votes
1
answer
1k
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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 ...
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 ...
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?
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
188
votes
3
answers
61k
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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?
...
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 ...