But first things first: As you know, TWE is running on a AGPL license; A open-source license that places particular emphasis on ensuring that the source code of software running on servers and accessible over a network is made available to users. It is designed to protect the open-source nature of such software and prevent it from becoming proprietary through network-based distribution:
- Network Use: The primary difference between the GPL and the AGPL is that the AGPL explicitly addresses network use. It states that if you run an AGPL-licensed program on a server and make it accessible to others over a network, you must provide them with access to the source code of the modified version of the software you are running.
- Distribution: If you distribute AGPL-licensed software to others, you are also obligated to provide them with the source code of the software. This is similar to the GPL's requirements for distribution.
- Derived Works: If you create a derivative work of AGPL-licensed software and distribute it to others, you must also release the source code of your derivative work under the AGPL.
- Hence the Copyleft rule: Like the GPL, the AGPL is a copyleft license. This means that if you modify or distribute software licensed under the AGPL, you are required to make the corresponding source code available to anyone who interacts with the software over a network. As you should.
“But what about apps and systems with proprietary or sensitive information like medical systems for example?” asks a legal savvy developer, who wants - and rightly so - to protect his and his clients and users information that, both by law and common ethics, should not be widely available in a way that open-source code is? Glad you ask, my tech and jurisprudence astute nerd! In anticipation of yours and yours clients and users needs we have prepared 3 commercial plans and a possibility of a custom license, engineered towards the realities of your particular project.
Learn more here
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