[ODE] Geist3D, ODE and Open-source

[jstier@cs.uvic.ca]

> .... n.b. it's still far from "do what you want" - you should
> read it!

I have already read the liscence myself, but at times it might as well be
written in greek. I have little patience for reading licenses ... :(

Someone else told me:

"To summarize, the GPL says that anybody that does anything with the software
(e.g. extends it, customizes it, distributes it, etc.) must make all the
source code available -- including any code they've written themselves.
Call it "forced contribution".  This ensures that a business can't take
GPL'd software and use it as the basis for a proprietary product, since
they'd have to open up their source code.  Hence, a number of
semi-commercial efforts license under the GPL to stimulate a community, and
separately license the code for commercial use (under a different license)."

That's kind of the same thing that was said here earlier so I assume this makes
sense to you as well. I am having a bit of a problem with this open-source
jungle. All I know is that I want to distribute Geist3D including the source
code but maintain a little bit of control. Especially if someone wants to do
anything commercial with it. Geist3D is an authoring tool including a GUI and
everything. I think it wouldn't take a lot for someone with more resources than
I to properly clean up the code and test it, and then package and try to sell
it. If there are commerical benefits to be had than some of the resources
should go back into the development of Geist3D. That includes feed me :) I can
always issue a different liscence if need be. I am orienting myself a lot on
how Blender is licensed.

> If you're not actually distributing the ODE source with your
> application then your application's license does not affect
> your users' license to redistribute or use ODE.  Conversely,
> whether or not you integrate and distribute ODE in some form,
> your own app's choice of license is not affected thanks to
> ODE's BSD license option

I will distribute the ODE source code as well. Simply because I am already
compiling it and its part of the project file. When I have time I will remove
it again and just link against a lib. 

> Note that I am not a lawyer and this does not constitute legal
> advice.  If I were a lawyer than this advice might be more
> accurate and you'd be getting my bill soon. :)

Same here! I wish I had become a lawyer ... :-)


Jochen


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