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Re: Open Source Medical Manager Alternative
by Fred Trotter on Thursday June 29, @04:49PM
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I can understand how this is confusing. The reason is that typically Open Source software is available for download without cost. However neither definition of "free software" from the Free Software Foundation, nor the defintion of Open Source Software from the OSI imply that you should be able to download the software for no cost.
The software is SOLD under the GPL. That means that if you want to redistribute it for free, then you can do that. I do this because that is the moral thing to do. I believe that I have a moral obligation to not control my customers with a proprietary license. Most people assume that as a "Free and Open Source" developer my responsiblity is to give my software away for no cost, that is a typical practice, but not at all a requirement.
Neither the Free Software movement nor the Open Source movement require that I work for someone else for no money. I will be charging a small cost for people who just want to take a look at the software, I will be charging a larger fee for those who would like to use it in their practice, and I will be charging a very large fee for people who hope to use the code to compete with my services.
Of course this is simply my idea about how to run things, I would be happy to hear about what people think of this plan, and I am open to changing my mind. So what do people think?
Fred Trotter |
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