Ask HN: How to license software...

7 pointsStanDarsh15y ago6 comments

Our product is coming into the Beta/Release phase, and I'm curious as to what other developers/companies use to license their software applications.

6 comments

6 comments · 3 top-level

adambyrtek15y ago· 1 in thread

GPL or BSD license :)

But seriously, if you don't want to make it open source you should at least mention what kind of application it is, what amount of protection do you seek, is it paid or freely available etc. Give use a bit more background.

StanDarshOP15y ago

Hey, thanks for the reply.... Background: I am a co-founder of Tenacious C (www.tenaciousc.com), and we are developing a tool that presents the internals of C programming for educational and industry purpose....moving to C++ soon. Anyway, we do want to make it a paid app; therefore, we do want to protect it. To what extent? That's what we are contemplating. I was hoping to get some good/generous feedback on this site because I trust this site and the people on it.

hasenj15y ago· 1 in thread

Most people don't read licenses.

I really don't think you need a huge legal document, just a short paragraph or a few bullet points to assert your IP and prevent "unauthorized" copies.

adambyrtek15y ago

You forgot to start your comment with the obligatory IANAL. I'm not a lawyer as well, but it's easy to imagine a situation in which the contents of the license really matters. Not because anybody would read that, but because this is something that is legally binding. Hopefully it won't be necessary to enforce the license, but "prepare for the worst, expect the best".

brianwillis15y ago· 1 in thread

I'm fond of the Apache License for open source stuff because it grants users the four freedoms without the viral nature of the GPL.

For proprietary work, my employer has always outsourced writing the license agreement to our legal team. Looks like you might have to spend some money.

StanDarshOP15y ago

"Looks like you might have to spend some money." lol....yeahhhhh, on that note, what's the best software to use?

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