$webwork.htmlEncode($page.space.name) : 8 Licensing
This page last changed on Jun 25, 2007 by cholmes.
IntroductionFirst and foremost, GeoServer is licensed under the GNU Public License (GPL). This is a very good license that ensures GeoServer will always be open source, and is the same license that Linux is under. But we're also innovating with it a bit, in what we call our 'Community Licensing Model'. This involves a single organization holding copyright over GeoServer, by requiring all contributors to assign their copyright. If you are a contributor, see the Contributor Agreement page for more information. About the Community Licensing Model.The primary goal of GeoServer's Community Licensing Model is to further GeoServer's evolution and grow the community around it. It is conceived as an engine to make that possible. We recognize that the GPL is the most effective open source license for guaranteeing that those who extend the core software will contribute back to the original community from which it came. But the nature of GeoServer is such that many people want to use it, and are willing to contribute back to it, but the terms of the GPL are such that they'd have to open source all their software if they want to integrate with GeoServer. The community licensing model is built to allow those types of organizations to contribute back substantially, while not forcing them to release the source code of everything integrated with GeoServer. Note the majority of uses of GeoServer don't require you to open source other software, see the Do I need a proprietary license FAQ How this worksHow does this work? It is basically a twist on the dual licensing model utilized by open source projects such as MySQL, Qt, and Open Office, but there are a number of important differences.
Additional goalsThe model is additionally meant to reward those who become part of the GeoServer community, by giving them revenue sharing when they bring in license fees. And it is intended to guarantee that a majority of money made from license fees goes back in to GeoServer. The goal is to avoid the exploitation of the hard work done by the community, and we feel the community licensing model is the most effective way to do that - keeping the GPL, but also enabling proprietary software to be built upon it as long as they give clear contributions back to the community if they are profiting from the work of the GeoServer Project. The contribution back does not necessarily have to be in set fees, there are a variety of ways to contribute - additional open source code, testing, marketing, sponsoring sprints, ect. But we will have a set fee so there is an unambiguous way to license the code with no negotiation. If for some reason the community licensing model is not meeting your needs, please get in touch with us. With this model the Project Steering Committee has the power to make judgment calls and relicense for special situations - where organizations want to become a part of the community but can not handle the GPL for all situations. |
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Document generated by Confluence on Jan 16, 2008 23:26 |