Do Open Source Software Licenses Have a Purpose?

Posted by khess on Aug 16, 2009 5:29 PM EDT
DaniWeb; By Ken Hess 		Mail this story
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What do all these licenses do for you? That's the 64 license question. Today I'm pondering if the current open source model is still valid or if it's outdated. Do we need licensing for open source software? Do we need the GPL, LGPL, APL and all the other licenses that plague...er, grace us? If your software is free and open source, why bother with a license at all? The software writer owns the copyright so why put users or potential users through the paces of licensing? What exactly is to be gained by creating and enforcing a license for this kind of software?

Today I'm pondering if the current open source model is still valid or if it's outdated. Do we need licensing for open source software? Do we need the GPL, LGPL, APL and all the other licenses that plague...er, grace us? If your software is free and open source, why bother with a license at all? The software writer owns the copyright so why put users or potential users through the paces of licensing? What exactly is to be gained by creating and enforcing a license for this kind of software?

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Before I waste time on writing one myself... tbuitenh 1 1,304 Aug 17, 2009 12:21 PM
I was hoping... techiem2 2 1,315 Aug 17, 2009 12:47 AM

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