[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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