[Coin-discuss] Licensing question

[Lou Hafer]

Rastislav,

	The short answer is ``If you want an answer to this question that
carries some legal weight, you want to get an opinion from your own legal
counsel.'' I would add that, if you're planning on selling a piece of software
to paying customers under some license of your choosing, you're foolish to rely
on free advice from the Internet.

	That said, I'll offer two free opinions, worth every cent.  And they're
strictly my opinions; others may well chime in with differing views.  I'm
assuming you've already read the text of the CPL.

	Section 3, `Requirements', is likely the relevant section.  In
particular, the opening paragraph, and item b)iv) immediately below.  You can
use pieces of COIN code in your binary distribution, provided that you also
distribute source for the included COIN code, and/or provide a clear explanation
of how your customer can easily obtain the source.

	The success and value of open-source software comes from the willingness
of software developers to contribute back to the code base.  That's how COIN-OR
comes to exist.  I hope you'll consider taking your product open-source at some
point.  As you have found, the benefit to the OR community is substantial.  The
impact to your economic model may well be minimal.  If you're selling to a
non-technical customer base, they're buying the sheer convenience of being able
to simply use your product to get on with their business, and (perhaps) access
to your expertise. Give it some thought, please.

						Lou