4 ms·

Random remarks: * You have no moral obligation to release something as open source. * Open sourcing a project is not free. It's work. You have to manage maint

Random remarks: * You have no moral obligation to release something as open source. * Open sourcing a project is not free. It's work. You have to manage maintenance/releases/contributions/etc, in a way that will match your audience's expectation (much more than for a closed source app). If you fail to do so someone will fork it and de facto take over your project. In general, do not open source your project if you're not ready to put in the extra work. * Typically when you open-source you don't sell licenses, you sell support contracts. If it's cheaper for enterprise customers to pay for maintenance than to update the software by themselves, they'll pay. If your software requires your expertise (i.e. it's complex and/or specialized enough) this might be a valid option. * If you're still on the fence, consider releasing a 'lite/free' edition, i.e. closed source with some hard limits, so that individuals and small teams can use it at no cost, and then see where it goes regarding that particular edition.

gus_massa 8y ago
I agree, but I'd like to add some questions for the OP: Why do you want to open source it? Are the alternatives open-sourced? Do you want to start a small company that sells the license and support of the software? Are you still studding or you have a full time job? There are millions of open source licenses. It's not easy to pick one. My inaccurate small list: Something like BSD/MIT allows anyone to use/change/sell your software. Apache is quite similar, but it has a patent disclaimer. With GLP if someone redistribute a modified version of your code then it must also be with a GPL license, it is more or less free, depending of your definition of freedom. For a server side program perhaps AGPL is better, because if someone makes a modification of your program in their own server then they must publish/contribute it. Don't take my word. You must do some research and get a serious accurate description of each license and choose the one you prefer. Just don't make up your own license or use a silly license like WTFPL. If someone wants to use your software, the lawyers in the company will be happier to see a usual license.

gus_massa 8y ago

I agree, but I'd like to add some questions for the OP: Why do you want to open source it? Are the alternatives open-sourced? Do you want to start a small company that sells the license and support of the software? Are you still studding or you have a full time job? There are millions of open source licenses. It's not easy to pick one. My inaccurate small list: Something like BSD/MIT allows anyone to use/change/sell your software. Apache is quite similar, but it has a patent disclaimer. With GLP if someone redistribute a modified version of your code then it must also be with a GPL license, it is more or less free, depending of your definition of freedom. For a server side program perhaps AGPL is better, because if someone makes a modification of your program in their own server then they must publish/contribute it. Don't take my word. You must do some research and get a serious accurate description of each license and choose the one you prefer. Just don't make up your own license or use a silly license like WTFPL. If someone wants to use your software, the lawyers in the company will be happier to see a usual license.