Questions tagged [open-source-definition]

Use this tag for questions about the definition of open source

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14 votes
1 answer
3k views

Can I remove payment requirement part of a MIT licensed library

A library I have used has recently introduced a payment requirement, i.e buy a license code and enter it to be able to use the library. The library is however still MIT licensed. Would it be legal to ...
3 votes
1 answer
88 views

Can I contribute device driver to opensource when datasheet is under NDA/confidential?

Let's consider a scenario where when working on embedded software, I had to obtain datasheet related to some chip from X manufacturer. This datasheet is not publicly available, but can be obtained ...
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

How to fill the "name of copyright owner" in the license, if there are multiple authors?

There is an open source project, licensed under Apache License 2.0. It is abandoned, so I would like to fork it, do some significant modifications, and publish it again as an open source project, ...
2 votes
1 answer
69 views

Publish open source

I use iText in my application Is the application considered open source if I put the AGPL3 license when publishing the application on Google Play only?, or I must to do something else to considered ...
26 votes
2 answers
5k views

So the GPL doesn't restrict the creator of the software in any way?

In another thread I started (Red Hat buys Ansible), I am trying to figure out the economic value of a company transaction with respect to GPL'ed software. A few of the answers suggest that the owners ...
13 votes
4 answers
2k views

Is there a way to only permit open-source mods for my video game to stop people from stealing code or at least enforce proper attribution?

I want to prevent mod developers from stealing code from other mod developers in my game. The best way that I know how is to only ever support mods that are open-source. I know about the SteamWorkshop ...
0 votes
1 answer
147 views

What type of license is protected my source from publishing the compiled product for free? [closed]

I am working on a commercial iOS application and recently I have made my mind to make it open source If I can find a proper license which fits my needs. This application is an end-product application, ...
1 vote
1 answer
82 views

Can my app have login authentication and be open source?

This might be a bit of a stupid question. But can I have login features (so send data to my server) and have my app be open-source? Or might this be a security risk? Thanks!
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is there a free open source version of Android SDK available for use?

When I download Android SDK from https://developers.android.com, I am prompted to agree with Google's EULA. What should I use in order to avoid agreeing on these terms? I'm under impression that ...
6 votes
2 answers
984 views

Is nopCommerce really open source?

I was very curious about the way this project was published, under an NPL license. From what I understand, this license is similar to the GPL v3.0, except that it adds an additional restriction: "...
1 vote
0 answers
67 views

Open Source - With Intellectual property

Recently I have been to open-source stuff and most of the time I license my projects under MIT License. While open-sourcing projects, how do I "exclude" certain files and assets like "...
3 votes
1 answer
80 views

What notice should Bob give when he takes a web app under Apache2, changes UI and the database, then hosts it?

Question asked here, but without much attention; posting here. Please write a bit of detail steps on how to follow Apache2 requirements for a new beginner, (whose native language is not English,) ...
3 votes
3 answers
927 views

Release a BSD-licensed but closed-source program?

The BSD/MIT license only mentions things about redistribution. But I don't see any restrictions on the initial release of a BSD-licensed program. Is it possible that I write a program, but only ...
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Can we use a previous release of an open source project when it had Apache 2.0 license for commercial purpose?

If an open source project which had Apache 2.0 license, has now changed its license to non-commercial use license, can we use a previous release(when it was free for commercial use) of the project for ...
2 votes
1 answer
165 views

Web app with GPLv3 license, What does it mean by "6. If you modify it, you have to indicate changes made to the code."?

Apologize for my limited English skill. A web app with GPLv3 license on GitHub, I plan to use it and hopefully Ads revenue can help pay for the VPS and my time of maintaining it. By using it, I will ...
1 vote
1 answer
147 views

Which open-source license allows everything except warranty?

The most permissive liscense known to me, Creative Commons Zero disallows patenting of the source but I would like to grant all permissions except warranty.
25 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is the TeX typesetting system free and open source?

I recently opened the source code for the widely-used TeX typesetting system, and was surprised by the restrictive license I found: This program is copyright (C) 1982 by D. E. Knuth; all rights are ...
2 votes
1 answer
111 views

Is the Ender 3 V2 licensed under the same license as the original?

Somewhere in 2018, it was a big deal when Chinese company Creality made their Ender 3 printer 'truly open source', as acknowledged by the Open Source HardWare Association. See for example this YouTube ...
3 votes
1 answer
188 views

Distributing GPL binary which has no source and unresponsive author

I was found in a situation where some author published a binary which was widely used. Unfortunately he never shared the source despite marking the program as GPL (version not specified). Despite ...
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

Is org.json a free/open source library?

github link: https://github.com/stleary/JSON-java The license reads, "..The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil. ..." There is also a hyperlink in overview of github link to https://en....
0 votes
1 answer
576 views

If closed source software is distributed along with open source software, will the resulting code still be open-source?

Suppose there is an open source project (a collection of open-source repositories) on GitHub. Can we include closed-source software in the same open-source repository? (Specifically I'm referring to ...
22 votes
1 answer
7k views

How to avoid being AWSed?

Elastic built the tool, AWS redistributed it and is dominating the market. Elastic is probably going to struggle and slowly die because they are bad at business. However, they built a great tool and ...
1 vote
0 answers
30 views

In what cases do open source licenses conditions apply? [duplicate]

Apache v2, MIL, GNU, and many others. They all have certain conditions you have to follow. But in what cases? What if I want to use Apache v2 (for example) software that generates... let's say images. ...
2 votes
1 answer
302 views

Can I use a software published under AGPL as an unaltered webservice without either publishing my source code under AGPL or buying a licence?

My program is commercial, but the AGPL library would be a back end solution; only the output from that web service is being used. I was told that since I am not modifying the library I do not need to ...
13 votes
4 answers
3k views

Which licenses give me a guarantee that a software I'm installing is completely open-source, free of closed-source dependencies or components?

I have a question about free vs open source software that's more about practical implications from the user's perspective. I'll explain the mindset first before the actual question, so you can ...
16 votes
6 answers
1k views

Is Open Source Software a subset of free software?

Is Open Source Software a subset of free software? I was recently asked this and realized I was unsure the exact answer. I understand that free software is not a type of open source software, but I ...
-2 votes
2 answers
51 views

What's the website that gives a very simple list of what's required of an Open Source License [closed]

I remember a website that you could use that provided a very simple list in layman's terms of what's required from an open source license. Then it provided a link to the license. Can anyone tell me ...
1 vote
0 answers
66 views

does anyone know the location of Oracle's 3 different berkeley db source code repositories? [closed]

The Oracle corporation states that their 3 Berkeley DB family products Berkeley DB, Berkeley DB Java Edition and Berkeley DB XML are each offered under the OSS Affero General Public License. I have to ...
5 votes
1 answer
885 views

What kind of license is Redis' RSAL (Redis Source Available License)?

The name would suggest it's not FOSS, but source available, which is a pretty low bar. But when I read about it, they seem to suggest that it's really only source available for specific use cases ...
12 votes
4 answers
4k views

Is a software open source if its source code is published by its copyright owner but cannot be used without a commercial license? [duplicate]

Suppose I wrote a commercial program, and I publish its complete source code on my website. I retain all rights to the source code. No one gets any distribution or usage rights. They only have the ...
2 votes
0 answers
61 views

Which license should I use

I want to share my android project on GitHub, allow everyone contribute to it but I don't want them to upload the project to play store without changing anything. Because I will be doing it. Why I ...
2 votes
1 answer
95 views

Company Copyright and Eclipse Public License at the same time?

stackexchange helped me out in many ways and right now I'm stuck with the next problem. There is a company, my company paid, to extend an opensource code because we had no time. The original code is ...
1 vote
1 answer
497 views

Is it in line with the DCO that a github sign-off needs and publishes full name + an email "that matches the commit author"?

This is a full copy from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/62969381/is-it-in-line-with-the-dco-that-a-github-sign-off-needs-and-publishes-full-name ######## Coming from Stack Overflow where a pseudo ...
1 vote
1 answer
145 views

Which licensing model should I use to share software within a company?

This is just hypothetical at this point. So just doing some ground work to understand, if this is even possible. If yes, which licensing model is most appropriate? Our company has several units. In ...
12 votes
1 answer
2k views

Does "open source" always mean "open access"?

I will frame my question with a concrete example: HELYX is a software based on another software OpenFOAM. OpenFOAM is an open-source freely-accessible software distributed with GPLv3 licence. HELYX ...
3 votes
3 answers
222 views

Releasing the source code of a premium feature for another open program

If I use a compiled program/non compiled source code which is under a license that everyone has the rights do use and sell (Eg: GPL) and no one can deny any person to use or sell it and then I want to ...
1 vote
1 answer
107 views

Can FOSS software make API calls to proprietary systems?

I'm not sure if the distinction between free and open source software makes a difference for this question, so I'll use the term FOSS. Can a FOSS platform make API calls to proprietary systems, such ...
10 votes
4 answers
4k views

Is "open software" the same as "open source" software?

A company sells a closed source software product - one that they actively also obfuscate - and market it as "open and flexible". Similarly there is no public issue tracking and when major exploits are ...
5 votes
2 answers
158 views

Proper licensing of commercial SW including open-source by the same author

I have written from scratch some SW that I want to publish as open-source in Github while being the only contributor. I want to publish it under AGPL license. At the same time I want to use the ...
0 votes
1 answer
87 views

Is any license needed, to build an open-source forum / community? [closed]

Is any license / paperwork need to build an open-source forum / community like stack overflow or like others Linux community site? If needed then from where i can get license for my forum / community,...
-2 votes
1 answer
141 views

Use of open-source templates at GitHub, android studio templates

Is it allowed to publish a program that had been copied and UPDATED from GitHub on google play, let's say I had done this: I went to GitHub and Cloned a project into my Android Studio. I updated the ...
9 votes
4 answers
3k views

How can I determine if some code I want to release as opensource is already licensed or proprietary?

Is there a way to analyze my code I want to release as opensource to see if it is / or has parts that are already licensed or proprietary?
3 votes
1 answer
115 views

Some questions about LGPL v.3 (support, warranty…)

I participate in the development of a soft that will be distributed on a commercial basis. Question: 1. If I take the open-source Library (under LGPL v.3), will there be any obligations to support ...
0 votes
1 answer
33 views

What can I assume about the copyrightablity of a certain method of doing something programatically appearing on multiple websites

Hypothetical Scenario: Lets say that, I need to find a way to delete an image from a list of images in a Java program. I go online to learn how to delete an image programmatically, and as I am ...
20 votes
2 answers
3k views

If an employee modifies a copy of a GPLv3-licensed open source library, is the modified copy intellectual property of the company?

There is a GPLv3-licensed open source library on GitHub which is used by the company I work for in a central component of the business. The business does not sell software, but only a manipulation of ...
1 vote
1 answer
308 views

Can a company modify and use the source code of a GPLed library without selling it or releasing the modification?

I have a specific case here for which I could not find a clear answer here or on other pages. I am working for a company that is interested in using an open source code licensed under GPLv2. The ...
2 votes
1 answer
179 views

Can I put project using premium theme on github as public?

I am not very familiar with github and license copyright. I purchase metronic admin dashboard theme and built one project using it. So can I put this project on github as public so that others will be ...
1 vote
1 answer
78 views

Open Sourcing my API - Exposing my Database?

I have an API that I created myself here: https://db.ygoprodeck.com/api-guide/ I get roughly 20,000 requests per day on it but have asked by a couple of people to open source it. I look into this ...
22 votes
1 answer
6k views

SSPL and the Open Source Definition

MongoDB has decided to change the licensing of MongoDB Community Server, seemingly to prevent businesses from monetizing on their product without giving anything back: https://www.mongodb.com/press/...
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Telemetry in open source software?

Is it OK to embed some telemetry functions in an open source project or is it considered spying or privacy violating? I would like to connect my open source app to Microsoft Application Insights to ...