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This is a point that has always confused me about open source software. Normally, I write everything from scratch. What I'm trying to find out is what licenses allows me to do this?

Chester Grant
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    "Normally, I write everything from scratch"? Language? OS? Database? File system? Libraries? Really? **everything**. What an amazing amount of work. Why do so much? Why not use an existing operating system or language? – S.Lott Oct 15 '10 at 18:41
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    you seem to be suffering from "Not Invented Here" syndrome: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Invented_Here +1 for wanting to change your ways. – rmeador Oct 15 '10 at 18:43
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    Focus your question. Of **course** using open-source libraries decreases development time, significantly, compared to writing those libraries from scratch. It sounds like your real question is the first one: which license types am I legally allowed to use in my closed-source, commercially-distributed software? – Michael Petrotta Oct 15 '10 at 18:45
  • @Michael You are on the right track – Chester Grant Oct 15 '10 at 18:47
  • @Chester Grant: Don't make silly claims in your question. Please stick to facts. Which OS do you use? Which language? Since you're probably already using open source tools, what's the problem? – S.Lott Oct 15 '10 at 19:03
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    @S. Lott if you can't figure out my question, maybe you should consider not answering it. – Chester Grant Oct 15 '10 at 19:10
  • You can find some more info for this similar question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28530/corporate-friendly-open-source-licenses – Arnold Spence Oct 15 '10 at 19:26
  • @Chester Grant: I didn't answer it. I'm asking for clarification. Please answer my questions so I can understand what you actually need to know. – S.Lott Oct 15 '10 at 19:28
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it concerns legal or licensing issues rather than programming. – MarsAtomic Jun 19 '15 at 01:57

3 Answers3

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Stay away from the GPL (LGPL is okay) and you won't have any problems. If you want to include GPLed packages in your application, things get tricky. BSD and MIT style licenses will get you the fewest obligations. In general, find the software package you want to use and read the license. They're usually pretty straightforward about what is and is not acceptable to do.

nmichaels
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  • Ok thanks alot :D. I almost got scared away until I saw your answer the guys at the top came off like trolls. – Chester Grant Oct 15 '10 at 19:19
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    In case it isn't clear, the GPL shouldn't prevent you from *using* software to build your products. GCC and Make, for example, are great tools. Just make sure you aren't *shipping* GPL'd code. That's when you start to have obligations. – nmichaels Oct 15 '10 at 20:32
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Why would you want to do more work? Of course you should. All you have to do is redistribute the OS technology source with your app (I am not a lawyer, but thats how I understand it).

The assumes

1) You are talking about an established open source solution, like hibernate, that you can reasonably assume works well.

2) The product you are developing is not using the open source technology as the 'secret sauce' that is going to make you money. Else you might have to open source that special part of your app.

hvgotcodes
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If the software actually fits what you're trying to do, then yes it does cut down on development time. If the software mostly fits what you're trying to do you may end up spending more time trying to work with it rather than solving the problem it's meant to solve.

I am not a lawyer, so be sure to run a license past legal council if in doubt

As far as licensing goes, there are a number of licenses that allow you to incorporate the software into your commercial application. Most of the time as long as the license isn't a Copyleft type license (i.e. GPL) you can distribute the software as is. If you have to make changes that get distributed with your application, some licenses will requires the source also be distributed with it and an indication of what's different from the core project.

Agent_9191
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