Does SEIV run on XP????

Gandalf Parker · #1 May 24th, 2004, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Magnum357:
Seriously though, why does Bill Gates have too rule the entire Computer world? Isn't part of what makes our contry great in the United States is the limitation of Monopolies?

Like anyone else who feels that their way is best. We should be glad he didnt start a cult (or did he?)

I guess the new social rule is that politics, religion, and operating system are not topics for polite company.

[ May 24, 2004, 15:11: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Mephisto · #2 May 24th, 2004, 10:41 PM

I did not say that you had to release Linux source code. But under the GPL/GNU you have to release the source code of programs you base on open source software itself under the GPL/GNU. You can not make it closed code.
The case with SCO may be a sham but oif your company stands in the line with millions and billions of dollars you might have another few on the issue but to take any risks. Trust me on this one, I work for one of the biggest computer companies on this planet as a lawyer.
And the point is not how fast Microsoft will fix a bug but that they have the money to compensate you and your customer if they screw up big times. If you screw up your customer with open source software you have no one ti mitigate the damage. See my point?

Fyron · #3 May 25th, 2004, 04:57 AM

You only have to release the code of the parts that are open sourced. You can still keep parts of programs entirely written by you closed source.

Mephisto · #4 May 25th, 2004, 06:38 AM

No, you can not. If you base your work on a piece of software that it GPL/GNU you have to release everything you base on this code to the public as well.

Please note: I'm talking about source code, not about work you create with a GPL/GNU piece of software (like a picture with an OS graphic program). You don't have to make the resulting work of an OS product OS, that's correct.

Quote:

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
You only have to release the code of the parts that are open sourced. You can still keep parts of programs entirely written by you closed source.

Gandalf Parker · #5 May 25th, 2004, 03:39 PM

Keep in mind that even with the open source, it does not mean you cant charge for it. Some are making a good buisness out of selling GNU/GPL projects. Here is a good link discussing that with the subject of GIMP http://www.gimp.org/about/selling.html

[ May 25, 2004, 14:42: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Mephisto · #6 May 25th, 2004, 03:55 PM

Charging for it works on the mass market quite fine but not if you produce a piece of software for your customer alone (like a piece of finance software for a bank). Your customer wants to have this software so he is ahead of his competitors and he demands all IP rights of this work so only he can use it and decide what to do with it. And that you cannot do with software based on a GPL/GNU license as you have to make the software OS too. The demans of the OS and your customer are head on in this one.

Having said this, just to be clear, I'm a fan of the OS idead and OSS software. I just want to point out that there are some finer points to closed and open software in a business environment to be considered.

Fyron · #7 May 25th, 2004, 09:04 PM

If you write your own software designed to be used on Linux, you do not have to make it open sourced. Look at Quake 3 for an example. You think they are going to release the source code for that game? Not likely. If you write software that consists primarily of open source code but with a few modifications, that is when you have to release it with GPL/GNU. But you can just as well write closed source software designed to run on Linux as you can on Windows. It is not as if you have the source code to use on Windows when writing software for it.