[ruby-talk:19726] Re: General (GUI/license) questions

On Wed, Aug 15, 2001 at 04:09:29AM +0900, Armin Roehrl wrote:
> 
> > extensible.  Never releasing software before, I have no idea what licence
> > to put it under.  GPL?  LGPL?  BSD-style?  I have no experience in these
> > areas; I've never tried reading them through.  What would be most
> > beneficial to the Ruby community?
> 
> That is a near-religious discussions. I try to put it very simply, please 
> correct me & don't kill me for simplifying a far more complex thing:
> 
> GPL: Everybody can use your software, but they can't sell it if it's part
> of a bigger project; i.e. the Linux-Kernel is GPL

Close.  The thing is, anyone can use your code, sell it, whatever, but it
has to stay open source.  The idea here to ensure that people can't take
advantage of your code.  However, no company is likely to ever seriously
consider using your code - you can sell GPL software, but who would bother
buying it, when the code must be available for free?

> 
> LGPL: mainly used for libraries.. i.e. people can use your software in a 
> bigger project and still sell it.  i.e. most GNU libraries are LGPL

Pretty close, ya.  Your code stays open, but it's a little more feasible
to companies developing commercial apps, since their code does not have
to be open.

> 
> BSD: Everybody can do with your software what they want.. as long as due
> credit is given.  think FreeBSD

Right on.  ^,^

> 
> You could simply say.. you put it out under the Ruby-license.
> Please look at: http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/LICENSE.txt
> 

If it helps any, here are some simple rules for licenses, as far as the above
three are concerned:

If you don't want someone to take advantage of your code and make a real
profit it off of it without your permission, pick GPL.

If you really want your code to be open, but you also want it to be acceptable
in a commercial environment, go with LGPL.

If you really don't care what happens with your code, just so long as it's out
there and usable by other people, go with BSD.

And yes, this can be a religous experience, picking a license.  I actually
use all three, depending on what my project is.

> 
> I hope this helps,
> 
> Armin.
> 
> -----------------------------------------------
> Armin Roehrl, http://www.approximity.com
> 
> "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
>                                           --Alan Kay