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SWF 2 EXE "open source" release help, please

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dmd7978:
Hello. First I will say that  the "Release the source without the program being open source" topic does not answer my question below, as mine pertains ONLY to a forum and "acknowledgement", no restriction on distribution or alteration. Cannot find an answer to this ANYWHERE.

 I have a SWF to EXE converter app, written in C# that I am planning on "releasing".. This will be my first release and the app is "complete", but I would like to host a project on my site dedicated to the further development on it. A couple of questions:

1 Would there be any "interest" in this? ("professional" opinions, not personal, using knowledge of open source topics) I do not know of any and the app is really cool IMHO. Very simple, though, just the conversion options, no added scripting abilities like SWFKit and Jugglor and such.


2 Am I "allowed" to require that the "project" be hosted on my forum? I will not restrict any use of it, at all, in any way. I simply think that if I release such a thing, I should be able to admin the site that people discuss it...I do not, in definitive language, see this answered in the "open source definition".

So would it not be "open source" if I did this? To be honest, I just want to be able to "have" , for "narcissistic" reasons, a site I can show off as what I started and  be "front and center" when amazing new things are added to it.

I will release it either way, however, if this would make it no longer open source, what would it be?  I would simply enjoy the admin aspect, ALL use of code and alteration would be allowed as well as distribution and such...I suppose I would "require" a link or acknowledgement in the distribution packages, though, too....Would be a shame if these "acknowledgement" desires would negate its open source....ed..ness



Thanks for help

steeladept:
Don't know if this helps any or not, but if I have unrestricted access to the code and unrestricted use of the code, then it is open source.  Even if there are restrictions on distribution and licensing of it (e.g. can't host it on your own site, can't change it to remove code credit, etc.).  In fact, that occurs in a lot of open source to one extent or another.  The key, to my understanding of it, is not if it is open source or not, but rather what type of licensing you attach to it.  There are tons of them, including the "do what you want with it" license I have seen more than once around this site.  Your best bet to ensure it occurs the way you want is to write your own license for it.  That and understand that it will get co-opted and used against the license no matter what  you do or say about it, if the source is released at all.  A "hope for the best and cover your bases, but expect the worst" attitude will go a long way with that.  Oh, and it doesn't hurt to aggressively enforce the license if/when you find an infringement (e.g. email them to comply).

dmd7978:
Thanks. Let me say this. There will be NO restrictions of any kind on the use, distribution, or alteration. I just want to be acknowledged as to where it ORIGINALLY came from if altered and distributed, and simply where it came from if it is in its current form. Plus , and maybe this is more "restrictive", to have the "project" hosted on my forum...I see this done other places, though I do not recall any names off hand. It does not seem too much to ask to me, it is only a forum, I should think.

That said, if I could be given a logical reason that this in any way hinders its development, I would take a closer look and reconsider. One that could override any reasonable counterpoint or counter-option.

Thanks

ewemoa:
May be take a look at some of the BSD licenses for inspiration and reference?

mouser:
Write your own license and specify what people must do to use your code.  You can put most anything you want.

The "official" open source definition has some restrictions -- mostly that people can modify your code and create new versions.  But you are mostly free to add additional terms like they must link to your site and include a text file that you wrote whenever they share their changes, etc.  Although we don't have many Open Source experts here, i know that many of us here would be happy to read any license text you write and help you improve it so that it suits your needs.

But: When you say have the project hosted on your forum -- what do you mean?  You will have a hard time *forcing* people to use your forum to discuss their versions of the software, HOWEVER I think in reality you will find that they will all WANT to use your forum to discuss it.  There is no motivation not to.  But maybe you have something else in mind regarding what you mean by "hosting" it?

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