[OT] OSI Vs Food on the Table?

[Mike McCarty]

Ali Helmy wrote:
> Hey mates,
> 
> I know this may be a little bit off-topic, but since I am just getting into
> the world of Open Source Software (OSS) and after many, many hours of
> reading different licenses listed on the Open Source Initiative (OSI), I
> have really two questions to ask:

I hope you don't inadvertently start a flame war :-)

> A) How DO you pick which license to use for your software... I mean they all
> seem very close to each other, so personally, I'd rather use the Sun PL, or
> the Mozilla PL, or the GNU General PL... but... what should make me decide?

Mostly, it depends on *you*, and what you intend for your software, and
who your target audience is. Only after you have identified this can
you start to make decisions. For me, all my software is either owned
by someone else, or I retain all rights, or I place it into the Public
Domain. I don't like any of the FSF stuff, so I don't use any of it.
The closest of the "open source type" licenses to one I would use is
the BSD style.

> B) For those companies backing-up the OSI and distributing code under the
> public licenses... How does that work for a Software Company? I mean if I
> develop Software that I would like to share the Source Code with the rest of
> the world with so that they can understand it, learn from it, and tell me if
> there is something wrong, but still have to buy the software from me, and
> not just copy+compile it into their own apps, how does that work? I mean, I
> DO like the OSI, but even though that might make me popular with the lads,
> it won't provide food on my table...

Well, someone here I'm sure will recommend the LGPL for that sort of
thing. But there is a lot of controversy, argumentation, and dispute
over exactly what the LGPL actually means.

The questions you have asked are not easily answered by other people.
Only you can know what your goals are, and how best to achieve them.
After you know your own goals, then you can see if a license already
exists which helps you achieve them. Given what you have written,
I suspect that there is no existing license which exactly meets your
needs and is generally considered "open".

Mike
-- 
p="p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}";main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}
This message made from 100% recycled bits.
You have found the bank of Larn.
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
I speak only for myself, and I am unanimous in that!