[ewagner]

Hey, if I want to make a program open-source, under the GPL, etc., what exactly do I need to do? And is there some sort of open-source forum where I can post questions?

[Angus_D]

All you need to do is put a copy of the GPL in along with your app, and put the standard GPL header in all your files. There are directions for this somewhere over at http://www.gnu.org, but it's pretty easy.

[Guaranine]

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-howto.html

[wadesworld]

If you truly want people to get use out of your code, don't use the GPL. Use the BSD license.

The GPL forces anyone who wants to use your code, to release all the source for their product. So, if you write say, a sound library and someone comes along and produces a great game that they want to sell as shareware, they can't if they use your library. (Unless they release all their source code, which wouldn't do much for their shareware registrations)

The GPL was supposed to encourage freely-available software and make more code available to more developers. Instead, most developers avoid GPL code like the plague - the exact reverse of what the FSF had envisioned. Far too many developers release their code under GPL because they think that makes it free without understanding the ramifications of doing so.

If I write a library that I think will be useful to other developers and I feel like releasing it for free, I don't care whether they use it to create free software, a shareware title or a commercial program. I just want them to use my code and find it useful. That's what the BSD license does.

Wade

[smeger]

Originally posted by wadesworld:
If you truly want people to get use out of your code, don't use the GPL. Use the BSD license.

The GPL forces anyone who wants to use your code, to release all the source for their product. So, if you write say, a sound library and someone comes along and produces a great game that they want to sell as shareware, they can't if they use your library. (Unless they release all their source code, which wouldn't do much for their shareware registrations)

The GPL was supposed to encourage freely-available software and make more code available to more developers. Instead, most developers avoid GPL code like the plague - the exact reverse of what the FSF had envisioned. Far too many developers release their code under GPL because they think that makes it free without understanding the ramifications of doing so.

If I write a library that I think will be useful to other developers and I feel like releasing it for free, I don't care whether they use it to create free software, a shareware title or a commercial program. I just want them to use my code and find it useful. That's what the BSD license does.

Wade

I'd just like to mention that if you're interested in open-sourcing a library, you might consider using the LGPL license. This one means that mods to the library itself must be released under the LGPL as well, but you can use the library in commercial code without needing to open-source the whole thing.

Generally, though, I agree with Wade. When I'm working on code that I plan to charge for, I'm scared to even look at GPLed code that solves a problem I've got.

[teknologika]

Originally posted by wadesworld:
If you truly want people to get use out of your code, don't use the GPL. Use the BSD license.

The GPL forces anyone who wants to use your code, to release all the source for their product. So, if you write say, a sound library and someone comes along and produces a great game that they want to sell as shareware, they can't if they use your library. (Unless they release all their source code, which wouldn't do much for their shareware registrations)

The GPL was supposed to encourage freely-available software and make more code available to more developers. Instead, most developers avoid GPL code like the plague - the exact reverse of what the FSF had envisioned. Far too many developers release their code under GPL because they think that makes it free without understanding the ramifications of doing so.

If I write a library that I think will be useful to other developers and I feel like releasing it for free, I don't care whether they use it to create free software, a shareware title or a commercial program. I just want them to use my code and find it useful. That's what the BSD license does.

Wade

These are all very valid concerns, here is a link to a site that compares licenses, and what you can with the code released under each one. http://developer.kde.org/documentati...s_summary.html

Wade raises a very valid point, and this is why the GPL license is often referred to as "viral".

Bruce

[Chuckit]

Never mind.