Which license should I use for my open source project

Question

Hey everybody - I have an open source project that I'm working on and I'm trying to figure out what liscense would be the best match. Essentially my project is a framework that developers will use to create projects of their own.

The vision I had for the licensing of the project (in plain English):

• The user must not sell the source code or any derivatives.
• The user must not sell the framework or any derivatives.
• The user is allowed to sell a program which uses the framework.

Basically, I just don't want anyone to abuse the open source aspect of the project, take what I've done and turn around and sell it.

Any suggestions on a good license to use to acheive this?

Thanks, Tyler

Answer 1

You've described something similar to the LGPL.

I AM NOT A LAWYER

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Under the LGPL, you can link against a library and the rest of your application does not have to be distributed with an LGPL license -- it can be any license you want, but the library's source code must remain available under the LGPL. However, if you modify the library and distribute it, the newly modified library must also be LGPLed.

Technically, someone could sell a derivative work, but once that work has been distributed to even one person, that person could freely distribute it to anyone they want.

Answer 2

Have a look at the boost license.
It's small, easy to read, is accepted by sourceforge, and meets your vision. Its goals, copied straight from the page linked to above, are:

• Must be simple to read and understand.
• Must grant permission without fee to copy, use and modify the software for any use (commercial and non-commercial).
• Must require that the license appear with all copies [including redistributions] of the software source code.
• Must not require that the license appear with executables or other binary uses of the library.
• Must not require that the source code be available for execution or other binary uses of the library.