The document discusses open source licensing and how it applies to different situations involving open source and proprietary software integration. It addresses questions around obligations to share code when extending or building upon open source projects. The key points made are that permissive licenses like BSD and Apache allow proprietary software integration without code sharing, while GPL and LGPL have additional requirements to share modifications with customers running the software.

1. Understanding Open Source

2. 2
Introduction
Jody Garnett
Community Lead
jgarnett@boundlessgeo.com
@jodygarnett Open Source Geospatial Foundation
Board Member
OSGeo Incubation Chair
GeoTools Project Officer
Eclipse Foundation
LocationTech Project Steering Committee
LocationTech Technology Project
Open Source Projects
GeoTools
GeoServer
uDig
JTS

3. • A complete GIS platform that exists on the Desktop, Server, on
Mobile devices, and in the cloud
• Powered by proven open source components
• Commercially supported to ensure quality and ease-of-use
• Designed for modern infrastructures
3
The Premiere Open Source GIS Ecosystem

4. 4
Everything you Need to be Successful
Software Services Training Support

5. 5
Open Source continues to Grow
Source: https://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=qgis,arcgis
12/87 37/74

6. 6
Approving Open Source Use
http://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/FOSS/2009OSS.pdf https://sourcecode.cio.gov

7. 7
Approving Open Source Use
Tony Scott,
U.S. Chief Information Officer.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/03/09/leveraging-american-ingenuity-through-reusable-and-open-source-software

8. • Shift from consulting and services, to complete products
• Putting emphasis on usability and end user success
8
Shifting From Individual Projects to Products
2002 2006 2014 2016

9. 9
The Boundless Open Source Ecosystem

10. 10
Open Source Licensing Explained

11. Copyright 2005-2016 OpenLayers Contributors. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY OPENLAYERS CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT
NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO
EVENT SHALL COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
The views and conclusions contained in the software and documentation are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as
representing official policies, either expressed or implied, of OpenLayers Contributors.
11
BSD license used by OpenLayers

12. BSD license used by OpenLayers
Copyright 2005-2016 OpenLayers Contributors. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY OPENLAYERS CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT
NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO
EVENT SHALL COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
The views and conclusions contained in the software and documentation are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as
representing official policies, either expressed or implied, of OpenLayers Contributors.
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list
of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other
materials provided with the distribution.

13. 13
How to include the copyright/conditions/disclaimer?

14. 14
How to include the copyright/conditions/disclaimer?

15. • The answer actually does depend on:
•Which component of the boundless platform is extended; and
•if that component uses a permissive or protective license
• Boundless prefers to start new projects with permissive licenses
•permissive licenses place few restrictions on use
• Boundless is also happy to work with protective license
•Protective licenses have additional clauses
(to protect customer freedoms)
•Weakly protective: libraries that include source but can be extended
•Strongly protective: require that extensions maintain license
15
What do I actually need to do?

16. 16
Key differences between licenses

17. • Permissive licenses focus on long game for success
•get open source used everywhere and control the story
•if a user forks the extra pain of upgrades will bring them back
• Protective licenses focus on a short game for success
•state up front that the result needs to remain open source
•strongly protective licenses up the ante by being "sticky",
anything they touch is required to be open source.
• Play smart:
•Choose an appropriate license for the technology or market targeted.
17
Aside: Choosing a Open Source License

18. • The Open Source Initiative maintains a list of
recognized open-source licenses.
• Licenses differ in how they balance
•the freedoms granted to users of software
•how they protect software developers
18
Open Source Licenses

19. 19
For a guide tour visit choosealicense.com

20. • BSD
•The Berkeley Software Distribution license permits commercial use, such as
including the software in your own application or website.
•The only restriction is the inclusion of a license and copyright notice in the
OpenLayers file you use.
•Your own work (that is, the website) remains unaffected.
•This ability to be freely mixed with your own work makes BSD an excellent
choice for OpenLayers.
20
Berkley Software Distribution

21. • Apache
•The Apache License is a permissive license similar to the MIT and BSD
licenses with some additional benefits.
•The Apache License provides additional language around patents with clear
pathways for both open and closed code development.
•There is no obligation to make a contribution, and licensees are free to take
their "Derivative Work" and license it under a different license.
21
Apache License

22. • GPL: The GNU General Public License
•is arguably the most popular open-source license
•Any modifications made to the original application must be provided to those
running the application.
• This is the license used for GeoServer
•It is especially appropriate, in that system administrators want to be sure
exactly what is running on their server, while ensuring that any
customizations made are available.
•The GPL license is also used by Oracle for the distribution of the OpenJDK
implementation of Java.
22
GNU Public License

23. • LGPL: The Lesser General Public License
•formerly the Library General Public License
•Allows the mix of open source and proprietary technology,
making it a little more relaxed than the GPL.
• This license is employed by the GeoTools library
•Pragmatic choice, allowing GeoServer to smoothly integrate with proprietary
systems such as Oracle Spatial and ArcSDE.
23
Lesser GNU Public License

24. 24
How can I mix open source and proprietary code?

25. • Permissive licenses à Proprietary code is fine
• Weakly Protective licenses à Proprietary code is fine
•If you fix or modify the original library, your customer needs the patch
• Strongly Protective licenses à “pass it on”
•Required to maintain license, person running the software needs source
•Option: Run the code for on your own hardware, it will stay internal
•Option: Introduce client / server separation to allow you to run as service
25
How to mix open and proprietary code

26. Boundless Suite Components
26
OpenLayers
GeoServer
GeoWebCache
PostGIS
GeoTools
Boundless SDK

27. Building on Open Source Projects
27
QGIS
GDAL / OGR
GEOS
PgAdmin
QT Designer
PostgreSQL
/
/

28. • “My organization would like to
create a plugin/extension to
GeoServer, but not make any
changes to the core GeoServer
code base.
Am I obligated to share those
back to the community?”
• No you are not obligated to
share changes back to the
community.
You are required to share the
plugin with your customer.
28
Change to GeoServer Application GeoServer

29. • “My company would like to
make a closed web application
using open source OpenLayers
library.
Can I sell the software we make
for a fee?”
• Yes, this is especially easy for
“permissive” licenses such as
BSD.
You are welcome to combine
open libraries with your own
proprietary/closed code, and
resell that solution for a profit.
29
OpenLayers Web Application
OpenLayers

30. • “My organization would like to
create a GeoServer WPS
Process integrate our
proprietary billing system for
use by our OpenLayers powered
web application.
Am I obligated to share this
website work with our website
visitors?”
OpenLayers (BSD) is a permissive
license placing no obligation to
share your work with website
visitors.
• Bonus: Website code accesses
billing system via the open
WPS standard.
30
Boundless Suite Integration
OpenLayers

31. • “My organization would like to
create a GeoServer WPS
Process integrate our
proprietary billing system for
use by our OpenLayers powered
web application.
Am I obligated to share the
billing integration process with
website visitors or sys admin?”
GeoServer (GPL) terms apply to
your system administrator
running GeoServer (and not the
website visitors).
• If you package the billing
process with GeoServer you
will need to provide the source
code to the sys admin.
31
Boundless Suite Integration
OpenLayers GeoServer

32. • “My organization would like to
create a GeoServer WPS
Process integrate our
proprietary billing system for
use by our OpenLayers powered
web application.
Am I obligated to share the
billing integration process with
website visitors or sys admin?”
GeoTools (LGPL) provides a
“Process API” under a weakly
protective license for integration
with proprietary systems.
• If you provide the billing
process as a separate
extension using GeoTools API
you do not need to share
source code.
32
Boundless Suite Integration (cont.)
OpenLayers GeoServer GeoTools

33. • “My organization is including
GeoServer as part of our
software-as-a-service offering,
we have added a monitoring
extension so our customers can
track layer usage in the service
management console.”
Your software as a service
customers are in effect website
visitors (not running GeoServer
on their own hardware).
• You are not obligated to share
your monitoring extension
with website visitors.
33
Software-as-a-Service Deployments
GeoServer

34. • “My organization created a
custom QGIS plugin for a
customer. Software developed
inside their network cannot be
shared back to the general
public. Am I obligated to share
this custom plugin back to the
public?”
No, you are not required to
share the custom plugin, or its
source code, back to the general
public.
• License: You are obligated to
share the source code with
your customer.
34
QGIS Plugin
QGIS

35. • "If I create a closed solution on
top of Open Source, am I
required to pay royalties back
to the Open Source
Community?"
• No, there are no royalties or
payment of any kind due back
to the community.
(But the use of patents and
trademarks are not always
covered by an open source
license.)
35
Royalties

36. • Copyright: Tool we use to assert ownership over a codebase and
enforce our open source licenses.
• Patents: Many open source licenses are quiet about patents
opening you and your customers up to risk. Apache, EPL and GPL
provide some customer protection.
• Trademarks: Used to protect product branding. The QGIS project
took out a trademark to have another legal tool at their disposal.
LocationTech maintains trademarks on each project.
36
Aside: Copyright, Patents and Trademarks

37. The QGIS community has taken out a
trademark in order to better protect their
name and branding.
This provides the community a legal tool to
prevent an organization selling a “QGIS
Extended Dance Remix Edition”.
37
QGIS Trademark
http://www.qgis.org/en/site/getinvolved/governance/trademark/index.html

38. • “My company would like to run
a training course based on the
PostGIS workshop found on the
Boundless website.
Can I sell the course for a fee?”
Yes. The PostGIS workshop is
published with a creative
commons by attribution share-
alike license (CC-BY-SA).
• Tell your attendees that the
course material is written by
Boundless (and if you made
changes.)
• Share-alike makes this a
strongly protective license
(so your work is also CC-BY-SA)
38
Workshop Material
Workshops

39. 39
Documentation License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/

40. Product and customer contracts should note use of open source licenses:
Boundless End User License Agreement:
(a) Boundless Suite (consisting of GeoServer, GeoWebCache, PostGIS, QGIS
Plugin, and OpenLayers software) is available in source code form under the
terms of various open source licenses (collectively, the “Open Source
Licenses") at http://www.boundlessgeo.com/legal. Nothing in this
Agreement will be construed to limit any rights granted under the Open
Source Licenses and the terms of those Open Source Licenses take
precedence over any conflicting terms herein with respect to Boundless
Suite.
How to respect open source licenses

41. Thank you!

42. For More Information
• For more information:
•boundlessgeo.com/2016/06/understanding-the-flexibility-of-open-source-
licensing
•boundlessgeo.com/2016/11/boundless-open-source-report-card
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