[License-discuss] licenses for hosted services

[Miles Fidelman]

On 8/5/16 4:20 PM, Smith, McCoy wrote:

> Sec 10 of AGPL does not allow the imposition of additional restrictions to it (such as "only for non-commercial uses), and section 7 allows a recipient to remove those restrictions.
>
> You really are trying to develop a non-open source business model.  This board is probably not the best place for trying to do that.

Ok, so based on the AGPL, that the AGPL.

And, no, I'm trying to develop a non-free business model, distinct from 
a closed source model - with one very specific and limited non-free 
condition.  Specifically:
- run it on your own local machine: FOSS
- run it on your own host (including an enterprise host):  FOSS
- run it on some other host, for your own use:  FOSS
- run it on a host for non-commercial use (e.g, an organization 
providing service to its members):  FOSS
- rut it as a SaaS, charge for it:  OSS with a license fee

Seems to me that this is an open source business model, just not one 
where all things are free.

Miles


>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: License-discuss [mailto:license-discuss-bounces at opensource.org] On Behalf Of Miles Fidelman
> Sent: Friday, August 05, 2016 1:15 PM
> To: license-discuss at opensource.org
> Subject: Re: [License-discuss] licenses for hosted services
>
> Thanks for the starting points, folks.
>
> I'm starting to think something like a dual license
> - AGPL for non-commercial uses (AGPL + borrow some of the language from CC BY-NC-*), and,
> - Most of the terms of AGPL (re. download of source, etc.) + a license fee for commercial use in an SaaS offering
>
> I'm really wondering if there are any specific examples of someone doing this, or of someone trying to do this and running into serious snags.
> (You know, learn from other people's experiences, not reinvent the wheel, and if there are really good reasons not to try, better to know
> early.)
>
> And, re. "You might want to post on a non-open source bulletin board" -- any thoughts on where to post?
>
> Thanks Again,
>
> Miles
>
>
> On 8/5/16 2:06 PM, Stephen Paul Weber wrote:
>>> I'm wondering if anybody has any experience or thoughts about licenses that permit self-hosting, and free hosting, but require a license fee for for-profit hosting.
>> Of course, such a license would not be open source. However, I believe that AGPL would get you very close to the spirit of what you want, while still being an open source license.
> AND
>
> On 8/5/16 1:46 PM, Smith, McCoy wrote:
>> There are any number of licenses written in this way.  CC BY-NC-* for example.
>> None of them are open source, however.  See OSD 1 & 6.
>>
>> You might want to post on a non-open source bulletin board.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: License-discuss [mailto:license-discuss-bounces at opensource.org]
>> On Behalf Of Miles Fidelman
>> Sent: Friday, August 05, 2016 10:36 AM
>> To: license-discuss at opensource.org
>> Subject: [License-discuss] licenses for hosted services
>>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> I'm working on some code that will eventually be made available as both open source code, and a hosted service (think Wordpress, Drupal, etc.).
>>
>> I'm wondering if anybody has any experience or thoughts about licenses that permit self-hosting, and free hosting, but require a license fee for for-profit hosting.
>>
>> It strikes me that hosting is a reasonable business model for generating sustaining revenue from open source code, but that it gets diluted very quickly if anybody can free-ride (i.e., as much as I find it convenient to, at times, set up a quick wordpress account on godaddy - it strikes me as just a might unfair that I'm paying godaddy, but they're not paying the folks at wordpress, and worse, they're siphoning off customers from wordpress).
>>
>> Anybody have thoughts on the matter?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Miles Fidelman
>>
>>
>> --
>> In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
>> In practice, there is.  .... Yogi Berra
>>
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> --
> In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
> In practice, there is.  .... Yogi Berra
>
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-- 
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.  .... Yogi Berra