Dishonest behavior

[Alikon]

I'm very angry cause some "people" are using some component of mine, released under the GNU\GPL License, have omitting from the footer line, credits and link to my site. Now i'm looking for a new license or other solution that don't allows this deprecated misuse. In my opinion the Open Source Philosophy don't legitimate this dishonest behavior. Every suggestion or opinion are kindly appreciated.

[X-F4CT0R]

Originally Posted by Alikon

I'm very angry cause some "people" are using some component of mine, released under the GNU\GPL License, have omitting from the footer line, credits and link to my site. Now i'm looking for a new license or other solution that don't allows this deprecated misuse. In my opinion the Open Source Philosophy don't legitimate this dishonest behavior. Every suggestion or opinion are kindly appreciated.

I agree with you on that, but you also have to understand that not everybody is going to follow the rules. Rules are going to be broken. My templates have been used and changed around saying they designed it. As you know my templates "mostly" are GNU/GPL. All I can advise to you is send an email to the admin of that site stating why you are angry and they will add the info back into the footer if they are kind enough. If not, well then I can't help any further. I would probably just let it go not much more you can do.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Alikon

I'm very angry cause some "people" are using some component of mine, released under the GNU\GPL License, have omitting from the footer line, credits and link to my site. Now i'm looking for a new license or other solution that don't allows this deprecated misuse. In my opinion the Open Source Philosophy don't legitimate this dishonest behavior. Every suggestion or opinion are kindly appreciated.

The GPL does not require you be given public credit for your work, only credits in the code are inviolate. Remember, XFree86 was dropped this year by all the major distro publishers in a row over a requirement for public credits.

Additionally, the GPL has nothing to do with Open Source. It's about Free software which is purely concerned with the freedom for people to use your code as they see fit (as long as it's within the terms of the GPL). It's not dishonest and it's perfectly legitimate to remove any part of the display they want to, if you don't like that then I suggest you use something like the OSI approved Attribution Assurance License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/attribution.php)

[Admin]

Honestly, it's that easy...

• If you want to give and you do not care about credits, donations, etc. then release under GPL and code for honor.
• If you want control, for example over any credits/powered by lines, then release as copyrighted software.

[RejuviNET.com]

If it's any consolation, eWeek is reporting this week that a new GPL is in the works - dubbed GPL3 - and a first draft is due to come out in the first quarter or so of next year.

It's being re-written to take into account the recent spats regarding intellectual property and patent attacks (remember SCO and Furthermore?)... It also addresses the differences between the EU and North American law when it comes to IP and patents when tied to the GPL.

It's pretty good reading.

Here's the eWeek article regarding GPL3

[Alikon]

What do you think about this kind of license

creativecommons

[Gayle]

CC licenses are good, I prefer the GPL but that's a philosophical choice. If I weren't attached to the GPL's ideals I'd probably go for something like one of the CC licenses.

[oxytocin]

One problem about the GPL is, that most people don't spend the time to read and understand it, including a lot of software authors. As stated before: the GPL does not require you to leave credit informations in place. You are free to remove them, as long a you don't claim to be the original author.

But, think about why people remove the credits.

I usually remove all credits for security reasons. It is just too easy: just google for "Powered by XY" and you a nice collection of sites containing the component you have found an exploitable bug in...

Another reason is the sheer size of some of the footers. A small "Copyright by XX" is no real problem, but there are already components containing multiple images in the footer.

If you think you really need credit, then don't use the GPL. But think about it again, I guess all the users of your software are quite happy with it. You probably are quite proud of it. There is something good for everyone!

[ChipMonk]

Open is open and closed it closed.

Frankly speaking, I myself have NEVER read any license/CR/Agreement ever, I just click I Agree and proceed further.

Previously I was mostly doing one thing, that i was commenting out the Copyright info, including name of auther/programmer (if any), and links back to the originating sites.

But one day i thought, what is differnce between me and a third rate Occupier? I am using their work, for my benifit, without paying them, without donating them and without contributing anything to them. So it means they will NEVER do me favors if I wont do my part.

Next morning i edit all the files, and put the notices back. (I never removed info, i just commented that out)

Credit should go where it deserves to go.

I also strongly agree with AK, if you are giving away, give it away without thinking what will come back, if u dont want it, copyright it!

[mkoenigs]

As an author and programmer myself, I completely understand the concerns and issues brought up in this thread. Especially given the fact that many components are free of charge, it seems as though giving credit for the hard work is fair.

I make a point of sending donations to the authors of components that I use in the commercial sites I create. I think it's the right thing to do.


But one area of concern (that has definitely "bit" me more than once) are the following issues:

1. Leaving a tag/link on a component that's being used in a commercial site product looks unprofessional. The last thing my clients need is someone clicking away from their site. It's not appropriate to have a bunch of links inside the content of a commercial product IMO.

2. It's advertising for a nasty hacker and an open invitiation to gain access to your Mambo site. I've had multiple instances with my older sites (not 4.5.1) have been hacked. I don't know exactly what they did or how they did it, but the last thing I'm going to do is make it obvious that I'm using Mambo to build commercial products.

I'm currently using the Alias manager to mask every page in my new sites and there's no indication that Mambo is being used anywhere. I can't afford to have my server hacked or a client site go down for any reason, ever.

And frankly, as an avid Mambo enthusiast and user, I still don't trust it. There are far too many moving parts. Mambo, combined with Linux, PHP, MySQL and every other piece of gobbledygook makes for holes, holes, holes.

As we've all learned from the last PHP scare, it's just a matter of time before another big old hole is discovered by a nasty person and exploited for no good reason.

I don't want to care nor should I care about anything except achieving my client's goals of running a profitable business. So anytime I can remove the possibility of some unethical idiot messing with a product that my client has spent their money on and my time on by hiding "hacking clues", I'm going to do it.

Life's too short to worry about stroking someone's ego when there are mouths to feed.

The best way I can reward someone's hard work when they write a component is to pay them for it or hire them to write some custom code.

As much as I'd like to reward everyone who's written a nice component, putting a tag line and link in a commercial product isn't realistic, reasonable or safe.


The bottom line? Add value. Create great tools, provide assistance and people will find you and pay you for your work. If you need credit, write a nice piece inside your component under the "About" with a form and link that goes directly to your web site and ask people for what you want.

If you want money, ask for it and be specific about how much. If you want work, ask for it. You'll be amazed at how many people give you want you're asking for if you just ask.