public domain (1 Viewer)

[failingTheHsc]

wat is this?

i got in my notes 'the software developer has surrendered all copyright' the software can be freely modified, copied etc.

is this right?

 

[grendel]

Public domain software is software that is not copyrighted.

It may be used without restriction.

If the source code is in the public domain it may be modified.

Decompilation is permitted.

 

[leeraff]

yeh, correct. Basically it is code that can be copied, modified, distirbuted and stuff, without legal action.

 

[-X-]

Edit: Im wrong.

 

[Freedom_Dragon]

hey Grandel,

Correct me if im wrong but Public Domain is also know as Open
Source, because the program is usually in the form of source
code, no license restriction and a good eg would be unix like
linux operating system which was developed by the " Free Software Foundation".

 

[Glide]

Surely the authors of public domain code still need recognition for their work?

 

[chris42]

I don't think so..

I know for like the song " amazing grace" , off the topic, but to do with copyright, you don't have to mention who wrote it when singing it.

 

[Glide]

hmm I see

 

[grendel]

Originally posted by Freedom_Dragon


Correct me if im wrong but Public Domain is also know as Open
Source, because the program is usually in the form of source
code, no license restriction and a good eg would be unix like
linux operating system which was developed by the " Free Software Foundation".

open source generally is free (although you can pay for some open source software such as Red Hat Linux..etc) and the source code is also available and can be modified but there is also the idea of collaborating with other developers around the world to develop/improve the software as is the case with Linux.

Ther is a central committee that periodically add the best newly developed features to the Linux "kernel", at least i'm pretty sure thats what happens.

with most public domain software there is not this collaborative approach to development and most modifications are done so for individual requirement.

 

[grendel]

Originally posted by Glide
Surely the authors of public domain code still need recognition for their work?

the developers of the original code do get recognition, just not financial.

Linus Torvalds (creator of Linux) is very famous and i am sure that his notoriety has brought him a decent income even though he gets none directly from Linux.

Open Source developers do not do what they do for financial gain. They aspire to higher ideals!

 

[jm1234567890]

nooooooooo

Public domain is different to open source

Public domain may be distributed freely
HOWEVER, it can not be decompiled.
The source code is NOT released.

Public domain = Freeware

 

[Popo Nana]

Public domain = Freeware? I'm not too sure about that...

 

[Fosweb]

http://www.cnet.com/Resources/Info/Glossary/Terms/publicdomain.html

Public Domain can be decompiled.

Edit: Quote freeware defn from CNet also:
freeware - Freeware is software you can download, pass around, and distribute without payment. However, it's still copyrighted, so you can't turn around and decompile it or sell it as your own (as you can with a public domain program).

 

[Popo Nana]

...And everybody say..."Yatta!"

 

[Freedom_Dragon]

Originally posted by jm1234567890
nooooooooo

Public domain is different to open source

Public domain may be distributed freely
HOWEVER, it can not be decompiled.
The source code is NOT released.

Public domain = Freeware

Yes, Public domain may be distributed freely.
If Public Domain is at times referred to as Open Source ( Usually in the form of source code).

How do decompile source code? (i dont really think it can happen)

 

[grendel]

Originally posted by Freedom_Dragon

How do decompile source code? (i dont really think it can happen)

You can't decompile source code.

You can decompile object(executable) code to get the source code.

Once you get the source code you can "reverse engineer" the source code to find out how a program works.

 

[karnevil]

public domain is NOT freeware. public domain IS open source - linux being one example. its open source but u still usually pay for it

Freeware is just that - FREE. u cant modify the code in anyway, all youre alowed to do is use it and distribute it for free.

 

[failingTheHsc]

that sounds wrong, u can sell public domain software as ur own?? i dont think that would be right....

 

[grendel]

It is important to know that freeware/public domain/open source, whatever, is still covered by a license agreement, just different from commercial software license agreements.

Linux is covered by the GNU General Public License.

Check out this link for a full description.

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt

 

[SamD]

Public domain means all copyrights have been explicitly relinquished, hence you can do what you bloody well like with it!!! Sell it, give it to your mate, throw it at the dog, whatever!

Public domain software may or may not include the source code. Open source obviously does include the source code, thats the whole point of open source. Just because you have the source code that doesn't mean you can distribute it as you please, there are limitations (see http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php for details).

Sam