license questions.
hello,
i'm writing some software for linux and right now fighting with what
license i should use. i was told to write to this list to get some help
to find a suitable license for my work that satisfy the requirements of
the 'opensource' community and that protect myself for the worries and
concerns that i have. maybe some of you don't like the concerns i have
but if you continue reading you may understand it.
i'm using linux for many years now and at the beginning i was impressed
and beliver of the 'opensource' and GNU/GPL community. but over the
years i realized that many people simply release their stuff under the
GNU/GPL because other people are doing so. it's like following the big
flow. a lot of these people actually never clearly read the GNU/GPL. i
don't want to say that i understand everything of it that's why i am
here now so please let me continue describing.
in the past we often saw that people are using the GNU/GPL in an
uncareful way and get really pissed off afterwards as soon as someone
really starts forking their software. e.g. heavily change stuff in it.
we all know what happened with KDE recently in redhat's new distro. the
programmers are not really happy with what happened there. somehow i can
understand their situation. they work hard on such a project try
following their ideas and visions and some big company came up heavily
changed things that doesn't fit the visions of kde anymore and try
selling it to their customers.
... and here my worries starts.
i am still a beliver in opensource, having the code is a good and
necessary idea. to learn from it, to help the developer fixing the
software and make a better product out of it. generally to have the
possibility to compile that software on all kind of systems. i know
myself good enough and i respect the original author for his work (or
the maintainer of it). but i know also that i don't really like the idea
to allow other people to make forks from my works. it would drive me
nuts and at the final end it will result in a never ending flame and
offending of the person who forked my work. for sure this may not happen
but it could happen one day. i also don't like the idea of companies
making the big money with my work. personally i get more and more the
impression that the 'opensource' community is the best thing that
happened to many companies.
to say it in harsh words from a companies view:
"there are a lot of stupid people outside, that work for free. we let
them work and sell their stuff. we get the big cash."
i want to avoid this situation. i don't like the idea to work for free
knowing in the back that some companies can take the stuff and sell it
for their own profit. things heavily changed in the past few years. the
vision and idea of opensource and real freedom heavily changed and
bigger companies starts to behave without moral on other people's work.
i went to http://opensource.org and read some of their OSI aproved
licenses. personally i think that maybe the artistic license is closest
to what i need but i am not sure if i understood it correctly.
so please if someone feel to help me here then i would be thankfull.
please CC the reply to my original email address because i'm not
subscribed here.
friendly greets, ali akcaagac
--
Name....: Ali Akcaagac
Status..: Student Of Computer & Economic Science
E-Mail..: mailto:ali.akcaagac@stud.fh-wilhelmshaven.de
WWW.....: http://www.fh-wilhelmshaven.de/~akcaagaa
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