Comment GPL License Problems (Score 1) 178
For future projects, you may want to consider a BSD-style license. Code developed under it doesn't have this problem.
A BSD style license also doesn't prevent you from using pieces of your own code developed for an Open Source package (under the BSD license) in another system you develop commercially. You wrote it; you own it; you can use it.
With GPL, if this situation arises, you must forget you ever wrote the GPL code and "reengineer" it for your commercial development, or have someone else reengineer it. Costs you extra time, but AFAIK that's what you have to do to abide by the license and honor its source release terms.
Given this and a few other points, it seems to me that GPL is a good license for hobby developers; BSD is the better license for professional programmers.
A BSD style license also doesn't prevent you from using pieces of your own code developed for an Open Source package (under the BSD license) in another system you develop commercially. You wrote it; you own it; you can use it.
With GPL, if this situation arises, you must forget you ever wrote the GPL code and "reengineer" it for your commercial development, or have someone else reengineer it. Costs you extra time, but AFAIK that's what you have to do to abide by the license and honor its source release terms.
Given this and a few other points, it seems to me that GPL is a good license for hobby developers; BSD is the better license for professional programmers.
