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 Posted: Feb 23, 2012 - 04:43 PM |
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Joined: Nov 17, 2004
Posts: 6137
Location: Great Smokey Mountains.
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gchapman wrote:
That is about the clear cut case of leaving an employer and taking a copy of their software with you. That doesn't apply to Open Source. But one responder made a very good point in that how do you make sure code you've gotten from someone else is really clean and not stolen? What if someone steals some code and puts some of that in an open source project?
Fortunately for me everything I use is so simple that the algorithms are all ancient and public domain. But this does spook me a bit going forward if I start messing with Linux on ARMs and inadvertently use some black box for WiFi or whatever and it turns out to be partially stolen. Frankly the whole software licensing thing strikes me as fundamentally crazy. I once used the following license for my code:
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If you use this software it will destroy whatever machine you use it on and kill anyone in a one-kilometer radius. So don’t even consider using it for any reason whatsoever! Have a nice day.
Then I found out that by not having a 'real' license I, by default, had copyrighted my code and it couldn't be used so I now use the new BSD license. I'll worry more about this if I ever write something that I think will make enough money to cause the lawyers to start circling.
Smiley |
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Posted: Feb 23, 2012 - 09:19 PM |
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Joined: Jun 19, 2002
Posts: 954
Location: SF Bay area
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by not having a 'real' license I, by default, had copyrighted my code and it couldn't be used so I now use the new BSD license.
Anything you write is always copyrighted. Unless you define the circumstances under which someone else can use it (ie provide a license), their lawyers (if they're careful enough) won't let them use it. If you use a standard license, you make it relatively easy "we can use anything with a BSD license and nothing with a GPL3 license." Otherwise, it might require actual effort (and effort == $$$, when you're talking about lawyers.)
There are gobs and gobs of embedded software where the license used doesn't actually match the stated intent. (for instance, most Arduino libraries are supposed to be usable in proprietary products, but have a GPL license attached, by people who presumably didn't really understand why those don't match very well.) As long as things are ruled by the intent of the original authors, the situation is probably livable. But I dread the day when the first group of "OSSL Trolls" turns up... |
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Posted: Feb 23, 2012 - 09:36 PM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 62281
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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but have a GPL license attached, by people who presumably didn't really understand why those don't match very well.
A common failing amongst those who just think GPL means "open". Thank God for BSD! |
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Posted: Feb 24, 2012 - 04:47 PM |
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Joined: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 3881
Location: Chicago Illinois USA
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| I think my original "Wantimes" program for synchronizing netware file server clocks was labeled: "Copyleft 19xx. All wrongs deserved." I didn't publish the source, but enjoyed the wide distribution of the .exe. |
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Discursive design,
Torby
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
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