Open source rocks
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Although I've had my fair share of hours coding at home on a pet project, I've never gotten involved in the open source movement. Maybe it's because I'd always somehow associated that stuff with the Penguin crowd and my skills have always been with MS stuff. Of course, open source is open source regardless of platform, I'm just saying I never showed up at any of those parties. One of the projects my company is working on right now is a set of courses to be delivered both on audio CD and via eLearning (online courses). So, I started poking around looking at the LMS / CMS (Learning Mannagement System / Course Management System) stuff out there. No time to write my own, and why reinvent the wheel? Holy guacamole!! The prices on these systems are just silly expensive! Thousands of dollars (like, $5,000) per seat! Consequently, I started looking around for freeware. What I found was Moodle (www.Moodle.org[^]), an open source, PHP based system (Penguins, you know :-D). I installed it last night and spent today reading a 200 page manual, nicely provided in PDF. Un-freaking-believable. My initial requirements for these courses were fairly simple, but after seeing the horsepower in this system, I got tons of new ideas, and the thing is just a joy to work with. And it's free. Compliments of people just like you, who stay up way too late at night and code for the sheer joy of it. I'd never had much of an opinion one way or the other about the whole open source movement, but after seeing the depth and professional quality of this product, I'm a believer. Hats off to these guys, and to all of you, who do such killer work in the name of community. The open source movement just got another very vocal supporter. And Penguins rock. :-D Christopher Duncan Practical Strategy Consulting Author of The Career Programmer Unite the Tribes
well... until it comes down to the more important things like support, support, fixes, getting answers from the 'community' thats suppose to support 'it', support, answers... i'll stop here. here's a sample of the great open source "programming": :wtf:"An error has occurred":wtf:: so i post it to the forum, and i get flamed for not supplying a enoguh of the error msg, well that's the error message. still waiting for "support" i'm getting chest pains, time for a cigarette. -- modified at 21:09 Friday 7th April, 2006
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
I'd never had much of an opinion one way or the other
I guess my only opinion comes when the licenses are more of a religious movement than focused at sharing the work and effort with others. There is a number of good usable products and components. My favorites of course are found on Code Project. "Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with things that move us toward progress and peace.” (Ronald Reagan) -- modified at 19:45 Friday 7th April, 2006
:-D
Michael A. Barnhart wrote:
My favorites of course are found on Code Project.
Christopher Duncan Practical Strategy Consulting Author of The Career Programmer Unite the Tribes
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Although I've had my fair share of hours coding at home on a pet project, I've never gotten involved in the open source movement. Maybe it's because I'd always somehow associated that stuff with the Penguin crowd and my skills have always been with MS stuff. Of course, open source is open source regardless of platform, I'm just saying I never showed up at any of those parties. One of the projects my company is working on right now is a set of courses to be delivered both on audio CD and via eLearning (online courses). So, I started poking around looking at the LMS / CMS (Learning Mannagement System / Course Management System) stuff out there. No time to write my own, and why reinvent the wheel? Holy guacamole!! The prices on these systems are just silly expensive! Thousands of dollars (like, $5,000) per seat! Consequently, I started looking around for freeware. What I found was Moodle (www.Moodle.org[^]), an open source, PHP based system (Penguins, you know :-D). I installed it last night and spent today reading a 200 page manual, nicely provided in PDF. Un-freaking-believable. My initial requirements for these courses were fairly simple, but after seeing the horsepower in this system, I got tons of new ideas, and the thing is just a joy to work with. And it's free. Compliments of people just like you, who stay up way too late at night and code for the sheer joy of it. I'd never had much of an opinion one way or the other about the whole open source movement, but after seeing the depth and professional quality of this product, I'm a believer. Hats off to these guys, and to all of you, who do such killer work in the name of community. The open source movement just got another very vocal supporter. And Penguins rock. :-D Christopher Duncan Practical Strategy Consulting Author of The Career Programmer Unite the Tribes
Christopher Duncan wrote:
And Penguins rock.
Go Tux!!!! :-D
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
I'd never had much of an opinion one way or the other
I guess my only opinion comes when the licenses are more of a religious movement than focused at sharing the work and effort with others. There is a number of good usable products and components. My favorites of course are found on Code Project. "Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with things that move us toward progress and peace.” (Ronald Reagan) -- modified at 19:45 Friday 7th April, 2006
That's why SourceForge tends to be such a waste. Most of the works there I've looked at are under the GNU Public License. The GPL appears to require that, if you use a GPL-licensed piece of software in your product, then your product is also under the GPL. This means that you have to publish the source code, which means that you can't use GPL-licensed components in commercial development.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
That's why SourceForge tends to be such a waste. Most of the works there I've looked at are under the GNU Public License. The GPL appears to require that, if you use a GPL-licensed piece of software in your product, then your product is also under the GPL. This means that you have to publish the source code, which means that you can't use GPL-licensed components in commercial development.
Software Zen:
delete this;Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
The GPL appears to require that, if you use a GPL-licensed piece of software in your product, then your product is also under the GPL.
1. You need not publish your source-code for inhouse-projects. 2. If you put the GPLd code is a separate process only that code is covered by the GPL. There are ways to legally circumvent the GPL.
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Although I've had my fair share of hours coding at home on a pet project, I've never gotten involved in the open source movement. Maybe it's because I'd always somehow associated that stuff with the Penguin crowd and my skills have always been with MS stuff. Of course, open source is open source regardless of platform, I'm just saying I never showed up at any of those parties. One of the projects my company is working on right now is a set of courses to be delivered both on audio CD and via eLearning (online courses). So, I started poking around looking at the LMS / CMS (Learning Mannagement System / Course Management System) stuff out there. No time to write my own, and why reinvent the wheel? Holy guacamole!! The prices on these systems are just silly expensive! Thousands of dollars (like, $5,000) per seat! Consequently, I started looking around for freeware. What I found was Moodle (www.Moodle.org[^]), an open source, PHP based system (Penguins, you know :-D). I installed it last night and spent today reading a 200 page manual, nicely provided in PDF. Un-freaking-believable. My initial requirements for these courses were fairly simple, but after seeing the horsepower in this system, I got tons of new ideas, and the thing is just a joy to work with. And it's free. Compliments of people just like you, who stay up way too late at night and code for the sheer joy of it. I'd never had much of an opinion one way or the other about the whole open source movement, but after seeing the depth and professional quality of this product, I'm a believer. Hats off to these guys, and to all of you, who do such killer work in the name of community. The open source movement just got another very vocal supporter. And Penguins rock. :-D Christopher Duncan Practical Strategy Consulting Author of The Career Programmer Unite the Tribes
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Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
The GPL appears to require that, if you use a GPL-licensed piece of software in your product, then your product is also under the GPL.
1. You need not publish your source-code for inhouse-projects. 2. If you put the GPLd code is a separate process only that code is covered by the GPL. There are ways to legally circumvent the GPL.
Roland Pibinger wrote:
1. You need not publish your source-code for inhouse-projects.
Which is virtually zero for me. We work with partners on just about everything.
Roland Pibinger wrote:
2. If you put the GPLd code is a separate process only that code is covered by the GPL.
False, Go read the license, that is only true for LGPL. Any usage at design or runtime forces you to GPL lic your work.
Roland Pibinger wrote:
There are ways to legally circumvent the GPL.
That is open to intepretation and I know my company does not want to be the ones in court settling how legal the GPL lic is. "Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with things that move us toward progress and peace.” (Ronald Reagan)
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Roland Pibinger wrote:
1. You need not publish your source-code for inhouse-projects.
Which is virtually zero for me. We work with partners on just about everything.
Roland Pibinger wrote:
2. If you put the GPLd code is a separate process only that code is covered by the GPL.
False, Go read the license, that is only true for LGPL. Any usage at design or runtime forces you to GPL lic your work.
Roland Pibinger wrote:
There are ways to legally circumvent the GPL.
That is open to intepretation and I know my company does not want to be the ones in court settling how legal the GPL lic is. "Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with things that move us toward progress and peace.” (Ronald Reagan)
Michael A. Barnhart wrote:
Roland Pibinger wrote: 2. If you put the GPLd code is a separate process only that code is covered by the GPL. False, Go read the license, that is only true for LGPL. Any usage at design or runtime forces you to GPL lic your work.
Note "separate process" (separate program), not dynamically linked library.
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Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
The GPL appears to require that, if you use a GPL-licensed piece of software in your product, then your product is also under the GPL.
1. You need not publish your source-code for inhouse-projects. 2. If you put the GPLd code is a separate process only that code is covered by the GPL. There are ways to legally circumvent the GPL.
Roland Pibinger wrote:
inhouse-projects
Notice I used the word 'product', which implies a commercial sale.
Roland Pibinger wrote:
There are ways to legally circumvent the GPL
There is an implied political agenda behind the GPL that I disagree with. Frankly, none of the source code I've seen on SourceForge for things I'm looking for lately has been up to my standards anyway, so it's a dead issue.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
The GPL appears to require that, if you use a GPL-licensed piece of software in your product, then your product is also under the GPL.
1. You need not publish your source-code for inhouse-projects. 2. If you put the GPLd code is a separate process only that code is covered by the GPL. There are ways to legally circumvent the GPL.
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Roland Pibinger wrote:
There are ways to legally circumvent the GPL.
I have not been able to find that in the license. It would be very helpful if you could share how it can be circumvented. Thanks.
Bob X wrote:
I have not been able to find that in the license. It would be very helpful if you could share how it can be circumvented.
As long as you launch the GPLd code as separate program you are not affected by the GPL. But that question hardly arises because there are much more libraries released under the LGPL (Library GPL) which allows inclusion in proprietary programs than under the GPL. Interestingly, GPLd libraries nowadays often come from commercial companies that try to sell their product under a dual-license, GPL and commercial.
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Although I've had my fair share of hours coding at home on a pet project, I've never gotten involved in the open source movement. Maybe it's because I'd always somehow associated that stuff with the Penguin crowd and my skills have always been with MS stuff. Of course, open source is open source regardless of platform, I'm just saying I never showed up at any of those parties. One of the projects my company is working on right now is a set of courses to be delivered both on audio CD and via eLearning (online courses). So, I started poking around looking at the LMS / CMS (Learning Mannagement System / Course Management System) stuff out there. No time to write my own, and why reinvent the wheel? Holy guacamole!! The prices on these systems are just silly expensive! Thousands of dollars (like, $5,000) per seat! Consequently, I started looking around for freeware. What I found was Moodle (www.Moodle.org[^]), an open source, PHP based system (Penguins, you know :-D). I installed it last night and spent today reading a 200 page manual, nicely provided in PDF. Un-freaking-believable. My initial requirements for these courses were fairly simple, but after seeing the horsepower in this system, I got tons of new ideas, and the thing is just a joy to work with. And it's free. Compliments of people just like you, who stay up way too late at night and code for the sheer joy of it. I'd never had much of an opinion one way or the other about the whole open source movement, but after seeing the depth and professional quality of this product, I'm a believer. Hats off to these guys, and to all of you, who do such killer work in the name of community. The open source movement just got another very vocal supporter. And Penguins rock. :-D Christopher Duncan Practical Strategy Consulting Author of The Career Programmer Unite the Tribes
Indeed. And nice to see you back around these parts, Christopher. regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry!
eh, stop bugging me about it, give it a couple of days, see what happens.
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Indeed. And nice to see you back around these parts, Christopher. regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry!
eh, stop bugging me about it, give it a couple of days, see what happens.
Paul Watson wrote:
And nice to see you back around these parts, Christopher.
Nice to be seen. :) What's new, man - doing anything exciting these days? Christopher Duncan Practical Strategy Consulting Author of The Career Programmer Unite the Tribes
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Paul Watson wrote:
And nice to see you back around these parts, Christopher.
Nice to be seen. :) What's new, man - doing anything exciting these days? Christopher Duncan Practical Strategy Consulting Author of The Career Programmer Unite the Tribes
Christopher Duncan wrote:
doing anything exciting these days?
Well apart from having moved to Ireland (working with Brian Delahunty) and enjoying the craic here, not much :) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry!
eh, stop bugging me about it, give it a couple of days, see what happens.