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As others have said "non-commercial use only" means "not open source". But ignoring that for the moment, what does "non-commercial" even mean? Is the license vi
by not2b 5y ago
As others have said "non-commercial use only" means "not open source". But ignoring that for the moment, what does "non-commercial" even mean? Is the license violated if the software is used on a website that has ads? Can a for-profit company use it for any purpose? Can a self-employed consultant use it to assist with their work?
In academia there's a lot of "for research purposes only, get a license otherwise" software releases. Again, the line for what is allowed and what isn't is very vague.
- freeloaderz 5y agoIt means if you're scared enough by the intentional vagueness of the term, either somehow contribute to fulfill the clause or don't use the software. Perhaps that's not how it would be interpreted, IDK, I'm not a lawyer.
- gus_massa 5y agoIs fixing a typo in the docs enough? What about bugs reports? These are useful tasks for a open source project. You may get contribution-spam fixing inexistent errors, just to fulfill the clause. If developer X is working in company Y and a year later X changes to company Z, who can use the software Y or Z? What happens if X dies? What happens if Y goes bankrupt and W buys all the assets?
- freeloaderz 5y agoI agree it's vague... you could say for whatever the contributor(s) decide to merge but in any event it seems easy to fulfill the cause, especially since projects need continual maintainence. At least it leaves some leverage in the hands of the authors/contributors against flat out freeloading. Normal MIT is essentially no strings attached.
- rglullis 5y agoIf you don't want freeloading from big companies, why not simply using GPL or AGPL, and offer the possibility of dual-licensing?
- freeloaderz 5y agoIt's likely I misunderstand but using the GPL essentially prevents contributing or you lose the ability to dual license (without a CLA)? The intent of the clause is to encourage both, if you contribute, you can do whatever but maybe it doesn't work that way.
- rglullis 5y agoI think your understanding is correct, but I don't see how asking for a CLA is too much of a problem. It's at least more straightforward than whatever legal spaghetti you'd be getting into just to find something that fits your definition of "fair".