This short post is an absolute must read. Quote:
Still, there’s a qualitative difference between letting people download your own work from your own site, and watching other people try to profit from it. But it is precisely this difference that strikes at the heart of the Free Software/Free Culture ethos. Part of choosing a Free license for your own work is accepting that people may use it in ways you disapprove of. There are no “field of use” restrictions, and there are no “commercial use” restrictions either. In fact, those are two of the fundamental tenets of the “Free” in Free Software. If “others profiting from my work” is something you seek to avoid, then Free Software is not for you. Opt for a Creative Commons “Non-Commercial” license, or a “personal use only” freeware license, or a traditional End User License Agreement. Free Software doesn’t have “end users.” That’s kind of the point.
Via Matt.
Doesn’t this contradict GPL? I mean the “commercial use” clause. I rather see free software as different form of payment for your effort. Rather being payed nice green bucks you’re payed by contributions to the projects, by numerous ideas you get for “free” and hundreds of line of code.