Is it just me, again?

[Mark Wilcox]

Hi Pete,

Here's how it can work for you. If you create your lcStackBrowser with the commercial version of LiveCode and simply assert your copyright (e.g. include a copyright notice) and sell it, without password protection to both commercial and community users then everything is fine. The defaults work in your favour here.

You should have a license agreement that explicitly tells people what they can and can't do with it in simple English to avoid any confusion on the part of users in the new open source world. e.g. You can use this with X & Y versions of LiveCode to help you create applications. You may not copy any part of this for use in your own applications, nor distribute copies of it to other people.

Because you aren't distributing your plugin with LiveCode Community Edition itself you have no need to provide a version under a GPL compatible license. Other people can use it with Community Edition on their own computers without violating the GPL. In fact, the very last thing you want to do (unless you plan to start giving the software away) is dual license, since commercial users could use a free GPL version without paying for it for the same reason.

In terms of retaining your IP - unless you have any patents on the software, the GPL has no effect here anyway. You still own the copyright even if you license something under the GPL. The thing is, the GPL gives other people a license to distribute your software (paid for or free) to anyone else they like, as long as they also do so under the GPL, which is why you don't want to use it in this case.

Hope that made sense.

Mark


________________________________
 From: Peter Haworth <pete at lcsql.com>
To: How to use LiveCode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> 
Sent: Saturday, 13 April 2013, 2:14
Subject: Re: Is it just me, again?
 
In my case, the plugin would never be part of a derivative work.  It's only
of any use within the Livecode IDE and creates nothing that would become
part of an application of any sort.  To clarify, it's a replacement for the
IDE Application Browser.

Having said all that, I have no idea what that does to my rights and how I
need to deal with that in a license agreement.  I would like to retain the
IP rights in the code but I don't know if that's even possible once it's
used in a program that is GPL licensed.

Seems like all the open source effort has done for me so far is cause a
bunch of licensing headaches!

Pete
lcSQL Software <http://www.lcsql.com>


On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 5:48 PM, Dr. Hawkins <dochawk at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 4:53 PM, Cal Horner <calhorner at xtra.co.nz> wrote:
> > "I can use anything that is developed in LC OSS within my commercial LC
> > environment. But if there is a password protection on something I have
> been
> > using for awhile, and wish to continue to use, that plug-in can't be
> used in
> > a LC OSS development environment."
> >
> > I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seems something is askew.
>
> Among other things,  the combined program would be a derivative work
> of both the OSS work and the plug-in.
>
> The GPL component requires that the combined work be treated, which
> isn't something that can be done with the commercial part, so no
> mixing.
>
> The GPL pretty much can't be combined with anything. "GPL compatible"
> means "can be re-licensed under the GPL"; this "compatibility" is a
> one-way trip.
>
> There is a lot of room in the OSS world for a license between the free
> BSD/MIT type licenses, and the viral GPL; something that requires
> disclosure of source code, but that allows mixed license in the
> ultimate program.
> --
> Dr. Richard E. Hawkins, Esq.
> (702) 508-8462
>
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