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We're at CodeProject, we don't come here for the wit and repartee. 
Open source is a broad concept, are we talking GPL here or is it the full range from public domain through BSD all the way towards the Generally Poor Licence.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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Have you used Open Source sourcecode in a commercial product?
that is pretty much illegal if the code is licensed under gnu gpl or opensource license.
[edit]
unless you either BUY a commercial license from the copyright owner , OR get a written permission to use it.
dont know about code published here at cp ,that dont contain any license info...
[/edit]
//Roger
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Roger J wrote:
that is pretty much illegal if the code is licensed under gnu gpl
There's a lot of open-source software that isn't GPL. Libraries (if I understand things correctly now) licensed under LGPL can, for example, be used legally.
Roger J wrote:
opensource license.
Just because something has an open source license doesn't mean you can't use it in a commercial product. It just means that it has a license, which all software SHOULD have. The license has to specify the terms of use, which can be whatever the author chooses.
Marc
Microsoft MVP, Visual C#
MyXaml
MyXaml Blog
Hunt The Wumpus
RealDevs.Net
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Marc Clifton wrote:
ust because something has an open source license doesn't mean you can't use it in a commercial product
ofcourse not .. but most opensource licenses DO restrict this.
and most developers are for some reason unaware of this..
//Roger
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Roger J wrote:
but most opensource licenses DO restrict this.
AFAIK only GPL has such restrictions. The vast majority of OSS licenses enable users to include the code into any commercial priduct. Take a look at the list of OSI approved licenses here[^]
My programming blahblahblah blog. If you ever find anything useful here, please let me know to remove it.
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Roger J wrote:
Marc Clifton wrote:
ust because something has an open source license doesn't mean you can't use it in a commercial product
ofcourse not .. but most opensource licenses DO restrict this.
and most developers are for some reason unaware of this..
Tss.. all wrong. GPL alone is not MOST opensource license. There is plenty of other open source licence, like the BSD licence, used in the (quite) popular BSD OS which is not like that, the PNG licence, etc ...
and they let you do whatever you want!
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Open Source != GPL.
All the code I've published on CodeProject is open source, and all of it can (and has, to my fear and eternal worry) be used in commercial applications for free. There's a TON of commercially useable open source code out there.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
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Chris Maunder wrote:
(and has, to my fear and eternal worry)
you should be very afraid...;)
I am sitting in my flame proof buncker, so don't even bother.
by the way, perl stinks.
"I believe god invented man, because he was disappointed in the monkey"
Mark Twain
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Roger J wrote:
that is pretty much illegal if the code is licensed under gnu gpl or opensource license.
No, it depends on the license and whether you derive from the particular product.
Eg i can use a GPL server, and as long as I dont make "hidden" modifications, I can continue to use it in a commercial enviroment (bar my product doesnt derive from it directly). Most GPL licenses are relaxed nowadays with a linking exception, simalar to LGPL. In that case I can link to it, and use it as a support lib eg, unicode handling for example.
top secret xacc-ide 0.0.1
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hey, I just tested your top secret stuff.
cool 
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Clearly you haven't ever actually read the GNU GPL or the Open Source Definition. You are free to sell GPL software and use it commercially, and any licence restricting commercial use of software isn't a valid Open Source licence.
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As you have already been corrected, this depends on the terms of the license in question.
> dont know about code published here at cp ,that dont contain any license info...
Here is a little intersting tidbit: Neither Does Anyone Else! For example, some documentation on CP reads:
Some authors may have specific restrictions on using code in commercial apps such as providing credit in documentation or sending them an email first, but all code can be used for free.
Other documentation reads:
Every article on the Code Project has been contributed for free, and all source code, components and code snippets can in turn be used for free.
And yet some more reads:
[...] You also give CodeProject permission to use it in a fair manner and also permit all developers to freely use the code in their own applications.
Notice any differences there?
When I tried to raise this as a potential issue I got all kinds of (unnecessary) BS back from it. I have to be positive and guess that a simple lack of desire to address the issue was the cause, rather than a lack of ability to fully understand the need for it.
The most interesting situation was a couple of months ago, with the Compact Framework Application Competition (I believe, it might have been another competition): IIRC, the winner's submission was GPLed! This means that it technically violated the terms on the submission guidelines, yet was allowed (and won!) anyway. Not exactly consistent, huh?
Peace!
-=- James
Tip for SUV winter driving survival: "Professional Driver on Closed Course" does not mean "your Dumb Ass on a Public Road"!
Articles -- Products: Delete FXP Files & Check Favorites
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including a third party library that:
you don't have the source code for
don't know how well THEIR company is going to do if there's a problem
don't know if they're going to keep up with new OS's
and don't know how long they're going to be around?
Marc
Microsoft MVP, Visual C#
MyXaml
MyXaml Blog
Hunt The Wumpus
RealDevs.Net
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No difference - in fact it's probably worse.
That's why my feeling is you either grab open source code and know you can modify/patch it, or buy components from a software house that has a good history and reputation.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
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Like someone said above you should carefully evaluate the product you include and see if it meet your quality, support and license requirements of your product.
For instance I do not hesitate to include boost in the stuff I create today.
What scares me are developers that include a large hackish library that solves a small problem and has no support and no quality. To counter the quality issues the developers most probably have made subtle undocumented hacks to the library which means the software will break in subtle ways when I'm forced to update the library. Then they leave everything to me to maintain *sob*.
Of course, this is is not specific to OSS but to all code that is included into a project. Even code that's borrowed from previous projects.
PS. Sorry for ranting
/Mårten
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I agree with you there. We had that exact problem at my last company... we used a cool little graphing component, but the only source code it had was an MFC wrapper around a COM component.
And sure enough, the company completely changed their interface and focus for newer versions, so we couldn't easily upgrade when we outgrew the capabilities the version we were at had to offer.
We ended up having to redo a lot of it by hand. 
An expert is somebody who learns more and more about less and less, until he knows absolutely everything about nothing.
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Existance of a commercial component has one advantage: There is a market for it. Meaning even if the original manufacturer folds, there's a reasonable possibility someone else will crop up and gather the old customers.
That's my main "fear" wih OpenSource products: no continuity. outside the "geek factor" range, many OS projects are driven by one or a very few individuals that, when their life changes (aka college ends), often leave no heir.
we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is Vonnegut jr.
sighist || Agile Programming | doxygen
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I disagree - if the company folds, it means there probably wasn't the market they expected. Or, perhaps it's because they lost out to an (incopmatible) competitor's library.
An expert is somebody who learns more and more about less and less, until he knows absolutely everything about nothing.
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or they just made a mistake, or....
It is true, it is far from a guaranteebut it is certainly more safe than a "college spleen".
Until OpenSource produces a functional Accounting Package, I'll be hesitant.
we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is Vonnegut jr.
sighist || Agile Programming | doxygen
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Here's an equally likely scenario (and one i've personally experienced more than once):
1) You purchase a popular and well-supported commercial product. But do not get source.
2) The vendor comes out with a new version of their software that breaks yours, making an upgrade difficult. Meanwhile, support contracts for older versions expire.
3) The small little cludges you've had to write to work around bugs or shortcomings in the product have grown into a vast pile of ugliness, taking far more time to maintain than writing the entire component from scratch would have been initially. And also making upgrading near impossible.
4) You develop an unhealthy interest in firearms.
You're one microscopic cog
in his catastrophic plan...
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Do I understand exactly what it's doing? Can I read it easily? Then sure, no problem.
If I don't know what it's doing or I have a hard time reading it (eg, bad coding standards and what-have-you) I'd prefer just to get the jist of what's going on and write it myself.
This space for rent.
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Adam Goossens wrote:
If I don't know what it's doing or I have a hard time reading it (eg, bad coding standards and what-have-you) I'd prefer just to get the jist of what's going on and write it myself.
I'm really surprised by your answer. If you buy a commercial library, you don't even get the opportunity to look at how the code is written, whether they comply with standards, etc.
Sure, I can understand that given the opportunity to look at the source, that it's a good idea. But with a closed source product, you don't even have that opportunity, so I'm curious what criteria you use to select closed source commercial products?
Marc
Microsoft MVP, Visual C#
MyXaml
MyXaml Blog
Hunt The Wumpus
RealDevs.Net
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I was referring to using Open Sourced Software, rather than closed-source commercial. I should have made that clearer I suppose.
Having never used a closed-source commercial product in any application I can't really comment on how I would select them. Since I'm also not employed by a software company (yet), I also can't comment there.
If I had to, though, I would spend a great deal of time talking, gathering reviews, viewing examples, etc. Word of mouth is the most powerful advertising. However, this method probably won't work when deadlines are looming In that case, I'm in the dark.
I'm interested to know: what sort of criteria do you use yourself?
Regards.
This space for rent.
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Adam Goossens wrote:
what sort of criteria do you use yourself?
A lot of sites offer forums where users post questions and problems, so I read those. Just like with CP articles, if an article looks interesting, I'll read the comments in the forum first. Google is great for finding people that have blogged about some software. A trial download is also great, but takes more time usually.
As you said, viewing/dissecting examples is a great, and I'm pretty impressed with the response I get from customer support from a variety of sites.
Marc
Microsoft MVP, Visual C#
MyXaml
MyXaml Blog
Hunt The Wumpus
RealDevs.Net
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I simply can't imagine C++ programming without Boost[^] anymore.
Boost libraries are peer-reviewed, high quality, free to use for any purpose, and no typical open source "we are going to save the world" bs.
My programming blahblahblah blog. If you ever find anything useful here, please let me know to remove it.
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