Linux - DistributionsThis forum is for Distribution specific questions.
Red Hat, Slackware, Debian, Novell, LFS, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Fedora - the list goes on and on...
Note: An (*) indicates there is no official participation from that distribution here at LQ.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
not at all, you can write binary apps for linux. the os is free, the apps don't have to be. i think what your refering to is the GPL . if licenced under the gpl then yes, sources would need to be made available.
I am no expert on licences but this is my understanding of the GPL and licences etc.
If use another programs source code and that program is using a GPL licence then your program has to also have a GPL licence.
If you are writing the code from scratch then you can do what you want.
But I am with tricky, basically any software that is available for buying is also available under a GPL licence. It may not look as nice or have as many doodad features but it will be out there. A quick check of Source Forge will tell you that.
Even if there isn't one and your program is REALLY useful, then you can bet that soon enough someone will release one similar using the GPL licence.
It also depends on what you want from your programming, money, prestige, recognition.....
Look for an article called 'The cathederal and the bazaar' it was written by the guy that did sendmail, it's all about the different software development models.
Another advantage with the GPL and making the source available is that there are alot of programmers out there that are eager to help make programs better, you can't use them if it is closed source.
Indeed, the Linux community/culture is such that making money on this platform may be difficult for a programmer.
I use proceeds from my programming "side career" to support my toy habit. That means I don't use household money to buy computers, digital cameras, etc - I use money from programming jobs. This has worked well to a point. Currently I'm selling palm based software but even on that platform there are enough free programs that it can be difficult at times. I also do custom application work on Windows. Looking at the Linux landscape, I have decided not to develop software for this platform. I'll be a user, advocate, and participant, but I'm not going to devote the time and cost (if I did start to develop I'd use Kylix because I could easily transfer my Delphi skills) to write commercial or shareware software for Linux.
OTOH, if Linux takes off more, then there will likely be money to be made developing custom applications and modifying apps, as well as tech support for small and mid size companies. At that point I'll start making the investment in time and resources.
if you use the QT libraries you could release a free linux version then recompile and release a for-profit windows version. ( you would have to buy a licence from trolltech to release the non-free version)
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.