[wplug] GNU GPL License
Andrew Fisk
andy at spitcomp.com
Wed Oct 14 06:16:53 EDT 2009
The value of the idea to create a "better e-bay" is not dependent on
finding GPL software and tweaking it. All the use of an open source
product would do is lower your cost of entry into the business Low
costs may be important to a startup, but if your product is truly
better and you can find innovative ways to market it, the cost of
setting up the software and the server are not going to be major
expenses.
If you do base your system on open source code, and then make
modifications to improve it (or build modules to extend it), you may
not be legally bound to make your code open source, but the ideal of
Free software is that you contribute your improvements back to the
project. As you build and improve the product, others will find the
software more and more useful and the community around that product
will grow and further enhance the product. Many of the folks on this
list make their living one way or another from supporting open source
software and there is nothing that would prevent you from selling your
product, your expertise, developing and building your service etc.
The idea that your product or website would be more secure if hide
your source you flies in the face of all the data that we have seen to
date, an open system with many folks reviewing and fixing security
issues has proven to be a more secure way of doing things than one
individual or company trying to secure a product.
On a more practical note, if you come up with a truly revolutionary
application that is based on an open source product, then put a
restrictive license on your product, someone will just come along and
duplicate your application. Take a look at Sugar and V-Tiger,
Fonality's PBX and several Asterisk projects, MS-office and
OpenOffice.org etc. You wold be much better served by keeping control
of your product, and guiding the future development.
Andy
Spitfire Computer Services
Suite 19
2301 Duss Ave.
Ambridge, PA 15003
Phone (412) 749-0162
andy at spitcomp.com
www.spitcomp.com
On Oct 13, 2009, at Tuesday, October 13, 20095:13 PM, Bruno Pierri
Galvao wrote:
> If I would like to start an online business and not reinvent the
> wheel, then could I use a GPL Licensed work with my own added
> modifications?
>
>
> For example, if I think I can create a better version of eBay and
> there is a GPL licensed eBay look-alike script. Could I take this
> script, add modifications and start a business? Of course the code
> would be unseen to the public for security reasons but if one were
> to investigate the code then they would see that we have left the
> GNU GPL copyrights in the code and copyrighted our modifications.
>
> I am confused.
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