[CentOS] trying to understand OSS, GPL, BSD & other licensing model for software distribution.

Brian Mathis brian.mathis at gmail.com
Mon Oct 12 14:07:50 UTC 2009


You asked this question not even a week ago.  It's off-topic, and not
one that you should be relying on people on a mailing list to answer.
Only you know your requirements and only your lawyer knows what's best
for them.

Also, there are many sites that go into detail about OSS licenses.
Going to any of those sites and doing some research is almost
certainly better than asking on a mailing list.


On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 3:53 AM, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi at softdux.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> We are busy developing some software (some is web based, others not)
> and I am having a bit of hard time understanding (or rather, choosing)
> a license model to work with, We will offer some free software (PHP
> based scripts, and even Windows based applications) and for this I'm
> sure the GPL, or even LGPL (for the network side?) will work fine.
>
> But, we also need to suppose these scripts, and will be charging for
> support (other for installations, customization, or even custom
> derivations, etc), but at the same time we need to distribute some
> commercial software to cover developer's salaries, rents, marketing,
> business growth, etc.
>
> Now, my question(s) is as follows:
>
> Can I sell one script as GPL, but another as AGPL, or even BSD under
> the same company name? And if these 2 are tied together (i.e. being
> able to be used together, although seperate programs / script - for
> example Apache + PHP), how would I license them?
>
> We are writing a series of PHP + MySQL based scripts which can be used
> on the internet, either stand-alone, or in conjunction with other
> scripts (API driven), and I want to offer a free, limited edition, as
> well as commercial edition with more features. We're also writing some
> software that makes use of MySQL / sqlite / postgresql, and even
> MSSQL, so I need to take their licenses into consideration.
>
> What would be the best license for this? I know it's broad, but
> there's just too much to readup on the different licences and I've
> read a lot already, not knowing where to go. I have a feeling that I
> may need to go the dual / multi-license route, but even then I don't
> know which licences to use.
>
> The open source projects wouls also be open for other people to add
> their own modifications, but I would also like to allow others to
> write commercial addon's as well.
>
> Any pointers, and even past-experiences?
>
> --
> Kind Regards
> Rudi Ahlers
> CEO, SoftDux Hosting
> Web: http://www.SoftDux.com
> Office: 087 805 9573
> Cell: 082 554 7532
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