Google and OpenSource apps

[Richard Gaskin]

J. Landman Gay wrote:

 > With the caution that apps made from open source libraries usually
 > can't charge money. It depends on the license.

Given the range of licenses out there I suppose anything's possible, but 
I've never seen an open source license that explicitly prohibits per-use 
end-user cost.

The GNU Public License (GPL) governing LC Community Edition expresses no 
opinion on costs at all.

Indeed, in the early days of the GPL none other than its inventor, 
Richard Stallman, used to sell floppies containing his GPL-governed 
utilities (though it was a modest fee, just enough to cover his material 
costs and time).

The "free" described in the GPL and other open source licenses isn't 
about money ("gratis") but freedom ("libre"). This ambiguity with "free" 
is among the many limitations of our language, but few speak Latin so 
the license was written in English, with descriptions of how "free" 
applies. :)

But although there are no licensing constraints on fees one may charge 
for the distribution of a finished software, those who receive the 
software do have the right to expect access to the source code at no 
additional cost.

And the GPL also grants them the freedom to modify the source code 
however they like, and to distribute their modified version and its 
source to whomever they like, at any price they like, which can (and use 
does) include zero.

So while there's no copyright constraint on charging for open source 
works, the restriction is simply pragmatic:

If you build a business model solely on per-user fees, and you choose a 
license that allows the user to have access to the source and to 
distribute modified versions of it, you will likely sell exactly one 
copy, to a user who will exercise those freedoms.

The GPL is an excellent license when your goal is about sharing for 
users, and proliferation of derivative works by other developers.

More permissive licenses like MIT may be useful for models benefiting 
from open source process and proprietary consumer deployment.

Proprietary licenses may be needed for other business models.

And with LC, they offer three models:

- Community, governed by GPL, favoring sharing.

- Community Plus, a proprietary license for free-as-in-gratis
   deployment to iOS and elsewhere.

- Indy and Business, for proprietary use also allowing per-use
   fee-based distribution.


And as Jacque noted, some bundled components may have their own 
licensing restrictions, where only some are dual-licensed and others 
proprietary-only - see license and functionality breakdown here:

https://livecode.com/products/livecode-platform/pricing/


-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com