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Did you actually think before you posted?

>>>And consider, for example, the dispute betweem a Mr. Sakic (developer) and a company that did something or other with website templates (it was on this site a while ago.. I can't remember the exact details). The company hired Mr. Sakic to make some modifications to an OSS product for them. Mr. Sakic then turned around and turned those modifications over to the OSS project - any revenues the company hoped to make by having these features are essentially wiped out.<<<

Did you read what you wrote? You wrote a company hired Mr Sakic to modify an OSS project. Duh! What did you expect? OSS is not public domain. It is protected by the same copyright law as proprietary code. Do you think if Mr Sakic used MS code, made a couple mods and tried to sell it as original MS would have something to say about it? You plainly stated Mr Sakic used the work of someone else. What did you expect to see? Do you believe it's proper to pirate somebody else's code as the basis for your proprietary app?

Just because someone make a bad deal does not mean the problem is with OSS. Number 1: The company should have a contract that clearly states the app is to be proprietary. That will stop the programmer from using somebody else's code. Number 2: The programmer could have written his code separate from the OSS code and kept his, and the company's part proprietary and copyright protected. It is permissible to link to GPL/LGPL libraries without having to release your code under the same license. He could have written his code as modules that are separate from the original app. Number 3: The company could have made a separate contract with the original OSS developer(s) of the project for permission to use the code in a proprietary app. Copyright holders can release their code under any number of different licenses to their business associates. Don't blame the license for the incompetence of the programmer or the company executives.

>>>There are several problems with that argument. For one, more developers competing for essentially the same amount of mozilla app jobs means the people doing these modifications will be paid like $hit (ie. supply and demand). Secondly, experience developing app X might not easily transfer to developing apps based on Mozilla.<<<

Exactly the same applies to anyone programming with proprietary apps. How many people are attempting to compete for the same application in any proprietary environment? Do they get paid better because its proprietary despite the fact there is a glut there also?


Bottom line: any company should have clear goals and boundaries and should make those clear to any programmer they hire. It's the company's fault for making a bad deal or hiring a sleazy/lazy programmer. There are several OSS licenses. There are no problems writing proprietary apps that link to OSS apps. So long as you don't include the code from the OSS app it is still your original code and you may license it any way you wish. Maybe the company you referred to needs a better lawyer. One that can understand software licensing. The lawyer they now have obviously cannot.

Developers from any field attempting to enter a new field will have the same problems. Just because someone programs for a proprietary app does not mean their skills will easily transfer to another proprietary app. There are plenty of incompetent programmers. Makes no difference what they are trying to write.

Your arguments apply equally to proprietary programmers.

Posted by: AmusedAtItAll   Posted on: 11/18/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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