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*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
Hey guys and girls,

I've been working on some open source GUI software for programming glow toys (Hyperlights, Aerotechs etc. etc.) and I'm getting to the stage where I'd like to put what I've got onto sourceforge.net. To do that however, I need to pick a license to distribute it under. I want it to be free and I don't want anyone to be able to mod it and sell the result. I'm happy for whatever companies to add modules to write to their toys, but I'm hoping the core of it will be free to try and encourage as much collaboration as possible.

So does anyone know if a GNU GPL license will do that? From what I've read it sounds about right.. ?

Cheers,
Jon

Cake or Death?


garthySILVER Member
old hand
717 posts
Location: Bristol, England


Posted:
[Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer but I have been writing/using open source for 10+ years..]

If you want companies to write modules for it but be able to keep the source hidden, which some may want, then you'll need a dynamic loading system/ Plugin system for the modules. These can be compiled seperatly from your source and be under whatever license the companies wish.

otherwise using the GPL any source that get built with your source is GPL.

If this is ok then Go for it.
Be careful about choosing a version / specifying a version as some GPL licenses specify this or any later version which could add stuff to the license you don't want. GPLv2 is good biggrin

Sourceforge may ot be the best choice as it does have problems quite often. Quite a few large projects have moved away from it due to persistant problems..

list of fThere is aree hosting support for projects here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Free_Software_Hosting_Facilities

"**grumble*spuriouswindmills*grumble**" - Coleman
"if poi was only for girls there wouldnt be many good poi spinners...." - Nx


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
 Written by: garthy

If you want companies to write modules for it but be able to keep the source hidden, which some may want, then you'll need a dynamic loading system/ Plugin system for the modules. These can be compiled seperately from your source and be under whatever license the companies wish.


Yeah, that was the sort of thing I was thinking. Both my toys and Aerotechs take a text file and use that to program the toys so I was going to make a couple of modules that turn the commands in the software into a text file of the required format and then call the external application to send the data to the toys. The bit of HyperLight software that then compiles the text into something the poi can understand is entirely separate to provide a more robust interface to them.

 Written by: garthy

otherwise using the GPL any source that get built with your source is GPL. If this is ok then Go for it.
Be careful about choosing a version / specifying a version as some GPL licenses specify this or any later version which could add stuff to the license you don't want. GPLv2 is good biggrin


That sounds like it ought to be fine then.

 Written by: garthy

Sourceforge may not be the best choice as it does have problems quite often. Quite a few large projects have moved away from it due to persistent problems..


I wasn't aware of that, I just suggested it as I've downloaded / used a lot of open source stuff from there in the past without any problems. I'll look into the alternatives though. What would be your preference if you had to pick?

Cake or Death?


garthySILVER Member
old hand
717 posts
Location: Bristol, England


Posted:
 Written by: *HyperLight


 Written by: garthy

Sourceforge may not be the best choice as it does have problems quite often. Quite a few large projects have moved away from it due to persistent problems..


I wasn't aware of that, I just suggested it as I've downloaded / used a lot of open source stuff from there in the past without any problems. I'll look into the alternatives though. What would be your preference if you had to pick?



It's generally ok for downloading as they have mirrors but things like CVS access can be skectchy at times.

I host my own SVN repository with a wicked hosting provider https://www.webfaction.com?affiliate=garthy
and if I had any public opensource projects at the moment I'd use Trac https://trac.edgewall.org/

But for Ease of use I'd just ignore me and go with sourceforge. You can always change later. biggrin

"**grumble*spuriouswindmills*grumble**" - Coleman
"if poi was only for girls there wouldnt be many good poi spinners...." - Nx


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
Well I have my own hosting so I could put it on there. I was thinking I'd add an issue tracker.. I've not used Trac, but I've heard good things about it smile

Cake or Death?


YakumoSILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
I remember mentioning the gpl, i can't even remember now why I suggested creative commons might be more appropriate for your ideals any more.

the majority of OSS code online is GPLv2 atm (generalising obviously, but i'd be suprised otherwise) and it would mean you could use other GPL libraries with no problems.

Blinded by Hyperlights, please donate generously grin


YakumoSILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
here's an interesting one, came accross this in the current FCKeditor release :

* == BEGIN LICENSE ==
*
* Licensed under the terms of any of the following licenses at your
* choice:
*
* - GNU General Public License Version 2 or later (the "GPL")
* https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
*
* - GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1 or later (the "LGPL")
* https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html
*
* - Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 or later (the "MPL")
* https://www.mozilla.org/MPL/MPL-1.1.html
*
* == END LICENSE ==

Blinded by Hyperlights, please donate generously grin



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