Releasing BB_Sudoku

briturner · Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:42 pm Post subject: Releasing BB_Sudoku

Greetings,

I have received a few emails asking about releasing my BB_Sudoku code under some open license. My intentions have always been for people to be able to use the solver and be able to modify it for their own use. My only reservation is that I did not want people to just take my work and use it for commercial reasons.

I am currently investigating the various licenses that will allow this, and was wondering if anyone has opinions (either for or against any particular license).

Once I pick one, then I will re-release BB_Sudoku 0.6 as 0.65. At this point, v0.7 and other improvements I made are not ready to be released, so I will be holding those back still.

Thanks,
Brian

m_b_metcalf · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:54 am Post subject:

Why not keep life simple? Can't you just add a comment to your code along the lines of:

lkSudoku · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:28 am Post subject:

This seems like a GPL license type (GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE)

I came across some GPL code before, and from what I recall, GPL license allows people to read and modify the code, as long as they keep it under GPL license, and do not charge for their code which used the GPL protected code

gsf · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:50 am Post subject:

PIsaacson · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:09 pm Post subject:

Brian,

There are several misconceptions in the above comments regarding GPL, so I strongly advise you to carefully read all of the documentation on http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

Choose carefully, but I highly recommend GPLv3.

Cheers,
Paul

gsf · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:34 pm Post subject:

PIsaacson · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:24 pm Post subject:

Refer to http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#AllCompatibility
This matrix indicates the cross-licensing combinations for various versions of GPL and LPGL.

Regarding Richard's statement -- from the FAQ about GNU licenses:

gsf · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:37 am Post subject:

PIsaacson · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:00 am Post subject:

Glen,

I'm unfamiliar with the BSD source licensing, but I would certainly consider LGPL as a viable solution to accomodate what I think you want: The ability to have various non-GPL'ed sources use the bb_solver code. But, it is ultimately up to Brian to decide the conditions he wishes to impose.

I would certainly recommend releasing the Solver function as a library regardless of how it is licensed. I can conceive of no purpose or advantage for directly copying or including the source in a program unless you believe that the Solve function can somehow benefit from being inline?

I would like to avoid misleading or trying to influence Brian in his decision. I believe it is important to present accurate information regarding the options available from GNU, hence my constant message to read the actual pages from the GNU web site instead of listening to opinions based on partial/incomplete knowledge (including myself...).

Cheers,
Paul

gsf · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:32 am Post subject: