On Fri, Jul 22, 2016 at 2:02 PM, Erik Beugelaar <[email protected]> wrote: > Working as a hired consultant in many teams with colleague developers I have > never met one developer who did not "steal" some code from whatever resource > (internet, books etc) to use it in a project that's needs to get done. Every > developer looks around to prevent inventing the wheel again over and over.
I think a big problem for developers coming from another environment is that they have become accustomed to using a language that is 'open' or libre and very much inline with the FSF ideal of sharing the wheel rather than reinventing it. The thought that the language itself is propriety, not just the IDE you are using, is probably rather foreign. You can not copyright an idea, only the implementation of that idea. If your implementation method is libre, then all the credit is yours. If your implementation method uses licensed material, then you are bound by the license. It may be your voice and your guitar, but if you are singing Stairway to Heaven then copyright exists and royalties may be due. LiveCode the language, just like the AppleScript language, is proprietary subject to license terms and conditions. If you get 100 people to write 3 different versions of a Hello World app, one in C, one in LiveCode, and the last in AppleScript. Anyone familiar with all 3 will be able to accurately differentiate which is which - therefore the uniqueness is unquestionable and a license holder would be able to say 'hey that's mine, you haven't abided by the license agreement'. In much the same way that those familiar with the band Spirit and their song Taurus were able to claim that Stairway to Heaven was ripped off by Led Zeppelin. The license for use of the AppleScript language is fairly straight forward and rather similar to the MIT license. Basically you simple have to acknowledge that AppleScript is a product of Apple, Apple is a registered trademark, and Apple take no responsibility for the functionality of whatever the AppleScript does. If you write a book with a typewriter and include a snippet of AppleScript, the license requires you include the above acknowledgement in your book. If you have a website, the same thing. The license isn't restricted to just apps you build. I will happily admit that I've posted LC script examples on this List that use the 'do ..... as applescript' that have included snippets of AppleScript statements but have NOT posted the legally required acknowledgement. This is wrong of me, by the letter of the license if I post AppleScript code I should include the acknowledgement. It doesn't matter if I think it's hard/irrelevant/childish/illogical/inconsequential, I accepted the license terms and conditions. Any LC Business/Indy license holder whose app contains 'do .... as applescript' is legally required to include the Apple acknowledgement. As for LC Community licenses and the adversity of the FSF to proprietary software, I'm not sure of the compatibility of mixing AppleScript with GPL v3. My impression is that the AppleScript License in no way restricts the sharing or redistribution of code snippets, so it should be compatible with GPL v3. Although history tells me that I occasionally don't interpret the GPL in the same way as the FSF does ;-( In the case of LC Community, the language is licensed under GPL v3 and it's requirements are it's requirements. The idea may be yours, but if you've used LiveCode the language to implement that idea, even if it's pen on napkin, that implementation is subject to the GPL v3 license. These may seem unfair/counterproductive/counterintuitive but it doesn't matter, the license is what the license is, it's requirements are what they are and you either agree to them and use LC, or you don't. I think a plain English License Guide would be helpful, not just to those new to programming, OSS and LC Community, but also to seasoned coders who may have come from a lifelong background of libre languages where they may have never thought that the programming language itself my come with license requirements. AppleScript is a registered product of Apple. Apple is a registered Trademark. ;-) _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list [email protected] Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
