11
jegelstaff
Re: Xoops is being sold under another name (myportal)

Depending on the copyright status of images and other things like tag lines and slogans, it can be necessary for anyone reselling an open source application to change all that stuff to their own versions. If you read the Red Hat Enterprise Linux license closely, you'll see that they specifically say that if you want to redistribute the open source software they have sold you, that you can do so, provided that you remove all the the Red Hat logos and copyrighted material (besides the code of course).

So depending on the business context of the open source application you're talking about, and the people doing the reselling, a certain amount of changes to "hide" the original creator might actually be appropriate.

In this case, I think it is certainly unethical if they infact represent their portal to be something they created whe in fact they did not. But the standard GPL license that XOOPS is licensed under doesn't prohibit anyone from doing exactly that I don't think. But I too would terminate discussions with them if they are dishonest this way.

Another point of view to keep in mind: many potential users of XOOPS, and clients of these people, could care less who made the software, what it's licensed as, or even what the cost is. If they are unable to install and manage the software themselves, then they would probably be very happy to pay a fee to have someone do it for them.

Although we as developers might want the business agreement to be specific about the fact that the charge is for customization and administration services, and not a "product price" since the software is free, the fact is that that's irrelevat to many clients. If they feel they're getting good value for their money, then they don't care what their money is actually paying for (product versus service). And I for one think that if they are in fact getting good value for the money, then thumbs up to those service providers.

Take it easy,

--Julian

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