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0 pointsmholt8y ago0 comments

Given that it's client-side JS, I'd probably just use an honor system. I'm not really a licensing law guy, but: Give it a license that businesses would not like to use (GPL?), then sell proprietary licenses to waive some of the requirements of GPL.

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3 comments · 1 top-level

X86BSD8y ago· 2 in thread

But again he or she above you doesn't really want to enforce that. Enforcement of the GPL is a big problem. Who has the time and energy and money to sit around looking for violators? And then if you do find them you have to lawyer up and that costs a lot of money. You dont have any time or money to write code. The reality is you either accept people are going to use the code you OS and just let that code go (BSDL) or you keep it closed source. I like the idea I just posted above of a model of releasing the core code but letting actual users vote for and fund what bugs and new features get added to the free core code.

tlrobinson8y ago

If the options are 1) permissive open source license, zero income, or 2) dual license with minimal additional effort and get some fraction of users paying you, then do you really need to care about actively enforcing the license?

belorn8y ago

Worrying about enforcement is like not opening a store because you are concerned about chasing down shoplifters.

Closed source also need enforcement. What is she/he going do if companies download it from a warez site? Who has time, energy and money to spend on lawyers to hunt down those people, but do not have the same time, energy and money if the license conditions happens to be GPL?

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