[Drawkit] CreativeCommons a permanent part of DrawKit?

[Graham Cox]

Hi Troy, Everyone,

 From today, DrawKit no longer uses the Creative Commons license  
(which was not very appropriate in any case). Instead, a BSD-style  
license will apply. The next Beta drop, due very soon, will include  
all updated headers and a new licensing text document. The CC license  
will probably still apply to documentation, etc where it is more  
appropriate.

I'm sure the use of a BSD-style license won't be controversial.

What might be however, is the fact that I'm considering charging for  
commercial use (definitely free for non-commercial and education  
however, and this is clearly stated in the licensing doc). This stems  
from the fact that I too would like to put food on my family's table,  
and right now, Drawkit is not helping me do so. My aim is to build  
commercial apps on top of DrawKit and generate income that way, but  
the fact is that work on DrawKit is taking up substantial amounts of  
time which is directly delaying work on other projects, which as a  
result are unlikely to be completed for a while yet. Having given up  
the day job in order to commit fully to these projects (and Drawkit  
itself) this leaves me in a position where it's only the good will of  
my wife that is keeping us afloat. Therefore I have started to think  
about whether I should try and make some income from DrawKit itself.

At this stage I'm not committed to the idea, but mulling it over. I  
would expect that any such fee would be negotiated on a case-by-case  
basis with the potential user - clearly if you're Microsoft I would  
charge much more than if you are a struggling Indie developer.

So please let me know your thoughts. I don't want to kill off the  
interest and traction that is slowly being gained, but hey, we gotta  
eat! If you are a commercial developer, would this cause you to  
rethink your project? Look elsewhere? What?

cheers, Graham




On 21 Jun 2008, at 1:27 am, Troy Rollins wrote:

> I know that this issue has been discussed on the list from reviewing  
> the archives, but I'm wondering what the final result is. Since I  
> feed my family from selling the software I make, I can't afford to  
> use anything in it which virally affects my ability to sell it. As I  
> understand it, the CreativeCommons license will have this impact,  
> and force me not to use DrawKit - which would be a real shame, since  
> I'm really getting the hang of it.
>
> I honestly don't mean to be "pushy", but any chance this will be  
> (officially) clarified sometime soon? Do I need to rip it out of my  
> app now, before it goes too far?
>
> Either way, thanks again Graham.