All of the extensions and plugins that I’ve written (I think) are licensed under the Open Software License. Heck, the site itself is too. This means, in a nutshell, that you can do whatever you want with these things, and I’m not responsible for the outcome. Even if I happen to use something copyrighted – which I wouldn’t do intentionally – it’s your problem to figure that out, not mine.
In exchange for not being held liable for what it does to your system, you get the right do do what you want with that product, whether it is a plugin, extension or just some random thoughts. I’ve “washed my hands”, as they say. And in general, I have no problem with that whatsoever. It just isn’t an issue.
But in recent days, weeks, months or some other indeterminate amount of time, I’ve decided that perhaps this isn’t the best idea.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the open sharing of stuff, whatever that may encompass. And I really have no problem with you, your brother or your grandma using things that I write to the fullest of their ability without having to do anything else. Tweak it, help your friends, give it as Christmas presents, whatever. I think that’s good.
Where it may not be so good is if someone takes it and makes money off of it without sharing it. The money, I mean. As I said, I know that’s a part of the risk of the license, and that’s okay. But at that point, I could see it being just a little annoying that they should take it, use it either as-is or with minimal changes, and not share the wealth.
I think that the Creative Commons licenses deal with this by the “non-commerical” usage, but I have to say that I really don’t know. And CC doesn’t seem to be applicable to software in any case. They even say so by suggesting that it’s not appropriate to software (though I didn’t see the promised explanation).
And perhaps more importantly, I don’t care (much) if you are a commercial concern and use the data for your own needs. But if you were to take it and resell it, either as a single product or a feature within a larger product, such as a CD or online offering, that’s where I think it gets to the point where it’s really an issue.
So. Enough babbling about this. Anyone have any ideas? Is there an appropriate license that allows for the free use of software (or content, I suppose, but that’s less of an issue), but requires permission – and potentially even money – for the use of that in a product? Or is that too fine-grained?
It would seem that something is doable, as Movable Type uses such a scheme, providing that t can work both ways. Maybe convince Six Apart to help us come up with a developer’s license or something that meets this sort of need! That would be cool.
One last thought: I understand already-released software is already released and there (likely) isn’t anything that can be done. I’m really thinking of the future here.
Comments
3 responses to “On Open Source Licensing”
Sure, Antonio, it is fair and the license is not a bad one. But it doesn’t address the point (I don’t think). Specifically, I want to stop the use of code for commercial purposes.
Let me rephrase, as that isn’t exactly correct: If you have a company and want to use the code internally, or even on your enterprise-level site, I don’t mind at all.
But if someone takes the code and packages it up, either on a form of media (CD, DVD) or an online offering (say as part of a hosting solution), and specifically if they then take that package and profit from it, I’d like to have a little taste.
Don’t get me wrong – you do the work, I have no problem with you keeping the bulk of the profits. And while in general I have no complaints about the use of things I write, because I like the idea of sharing them, there are those out there who would take them and profit from them without so much as a virtual reach-around.
That’s where this comes in. And while I have no expectations of getting rich by any means, and I don’t think I want much of anything at all – in the prior example a complimentary hosting account might make for a nice offering – getting something for the effort sure would be nice. 🙂
I think the GNU GPL is a good license. It doesn’t stop the use of your code for commercial purposes, but ensures that all improvements will remain public and under the same license. That is what I call fair use.
How do you ‘police’ usage?
If you can monitor the code then you have a chance at ‘policing’ – this is still a very resource intensive approach that is at best only possible with compiled code, not source.
I think you’re dancing a thin line between the reality of open and closed systems – if you want the benefit of a closed system you’ll have to embrace it or continue to suffer the drawbacks of an open one.
It’s not often we hear how honourable business people are – a more political argument might well be based around the culture we encourage in society that might lead to people respecting and rewarding those who have helped them gain success.