4 ms·

"Ask NH"? Is this question for residents of New Hampshire only? Barring that, first off: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affero_General_Public_License http://en.w

by devmonk 16y ago

"Ask NH"? Is this question for residents of New Hampshire only? Barring that, first off: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affero_General_Public_License http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affero_General_Public_License Basically, looks like FSF suggests that any software that would run over a network (like a web application, web service, etc.) should be AGPL rather than GPL. I like the MIT license, because while I love free software, I don't want businesses hindered from using it.

hippich 16y ago
Yeah, I agree. While I understand concerns about using open source software and never give back, I believe AGPL will never be adopted in commercial projects. And since no money will be involved, any AGPL project never get enough popularity to be successful. On the side note, anyone can mention successful AGPL project? I want to see how they adopt it in business.
adulau 16y ago
Copyleft type licenses (like AGPL or GPL) are also business friendly. They just choose different business model. There was also a discussion on the topic previously and especially how the non-copyleft licenses (like MIT or BSD-like) are not always contributing to the free software ecosystem: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642140 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642140
- hippich 16y ago
  Do you have case for using AGPL software in business. I really want to understand how it could be done.
  - _delirium 16y ago
    Gitorious is one company run purely on AGPL software (though they wrote much of it themselves). They seem to think their main value proposition is the service and hosting, so don't much care about having the code itself open. The choice of AGPL seems to be to make sure that any competitors that start from their codebase have to use the same strategy. That's not as freedom-friendly as just letting anyone use it for any purpose, but at the very least, it doesn't seem less free than the usual SaaS strategy of keeping your server-side code completely closed (what their competitor GitHub does).
- evgen 16y ago
  Try naming a single business that uses AGPL. Claiming that AGPL is business friendly is pretty deceptive (i.e. it is business friendly provided that your business is not the sale of software or online services), but around here most people will see straight through the bullshit, chuckle a bit, and move on. The short version that everyone here who actually runs a business will tell you is that GPL is fine for most situations, but you should avoid anything that has the AGPL license for the core of your business unless you really have no other option.
  - martey 16y ago
    Status.Net (raised over $2 million in funding) uses the AGPL. Their software is similar to Twitter (they run http://identi.ca http://identi.ca), but they seem to be targeting the enterprise market: http://status.net/enterprise-network http://status.net/enterprise-network If I made my living selling desktop software, the benefit of using BSD licensed libraries without contributing back to the community would be obvious. The GPL has a similar status among web companies. As a consumer, however, I appreciate the choices that AGPL software give me (e.g. hosting the software on my own server, adding or removing features, etc.).
    - hippich 16y ago
      I see status.net uses CC license?
  - adulau 16y ago
    Affero (the A stands for Affero - http://www.affero.com/ http://www.affero.com/) was the first business to use it and they even designed the license. This is not a "traditional business" but the company still exists. Status.net (the company behind identi.ca) is relying on the AGPL and they got some funding. FooCorp (who is behind the libre.fm project) is also using the AGPL. The difference between the AGPL and GPL is somehow minor as this is just a standard GPL version 3 + the conveying modification for the network transport. It's funny how discussion about the AGPL is similar to the GPL misinformation propagated by Microsoft in the early 2000 : http://www.foo.be/photo/ms-pres-lux/img_0223r.jpg http://www.foo.be/photo/ms-pres-lux/img_0223r.jpg Software for an online service is just a small part of the overall business. So you still have competitive advantages with the infrastructure in place or your user base/community using your service.

by devmonk 16y ago

hippich 16y ago

Yeah, I agree. While I understand concerns about using open source software and never give back, I believe AGPL will never be adopted in commercial projects. And since no money will be involved, any AGPL project never get enough popularity to be successful. On the side note, anyone can mention successful AGPL project? I want to see how they adopt it in business.

adulau 16y ago

Copyleft type licenses (like AGPL or GPL) are also business friendly. They just choose different business model. There was also a discussion on the topic previously and especially how the non-copyleft licenses (like MIT or BSD-like) are not always contributing to the free software ecosystem: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642140 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642140

hippich 16y ago
Do you have case for using AGPL software in business. I really want to understand how it could be done.
- _delirium 16y ago
  Gitorious is one company run purely on AGPL software (though they wrote much of it themselves). They seem to think their main value proposition is the service and hosting, so don't much care about having the code itself open. The choice of AGPL seems to be to make sure that any competitors that start from their codebase have to use the same strategy. That's not as freedom-friendly as just letting anyone use it for any purpose, but at the very least, it doesn't seem less free than the usual SaaS strategy of keeping your server-side code completely closed (what their competitor GitHub does).
evgen 16y ago
Try naming a single business that uses AGPL. Claiming that AGPL is business friendly is pretty deceptive (i.e. it is business friendly provided that your business is not the sale of software or online services), but around here most people will see straight through the bullshit, chuckle a bit, and move on. The short version that everyone here who actually runs a business will tell you is that GPL is fine for most situations, but you should avoid anything that has the AGPL license for the core of your business unless you really have no other option.
- martey 16y ago
  Status.Net (raised over $2 million in funding) uses the AGPL. Their software is similar to Twitter (they run http://identi.ca http://identi.ca), but they seem to be targeting the enterprise market: http://status.net/enterprise-network http://status.net/enterprise-network If I made my living selling desktop software, the benefit of using BSD licensed libraries without contributing back to the community would be obvious. The GPL has a similar status among web companies. As a consumer, however, I appreciate the choices that AGPL software give me (e.g. hosting the software on my own server, adding or removing features, etc.).
  - hippich 16y ago
    I see status.net uses CC license?
- adulau 16y ago
  Affero (the A stands for Affero - http://www.affero.com/ http://www.affero.com/) was the first business to use it and they even designed the license. This is not a "traditional business" but the company still exists. Status.net (the company behind identi.ca) is relying on the AGPL and they got some funding. FooCorp (who is behind the libre.fm project) is also using the AGPL. The difference between the AGPL and GPL is somehow minor as this is just a standard GPL version 3 + the conveying modification for the network transport. It's funny how discussion about the AGPL is similar to the GPL misinformation propagated by Microsoft in the early 2000 : http://www.foo.be/photo/ms-pres-lux/img_0223r.jpg http://www.foo.be/photo/ms-pres-lux/img_0223r.jpg Software for an online service is just a small part of the overall business. So you still have competitive advantages with the infrastructure in place or your user base/community using your service.