Can i modify open source software and sell it

I am not sure what information would be relevant to this so if I have missed some relevant info, please tell me what additional information is required to determine this. You are allowed to sell open source software for any amount you like.

You are allowed to charge reasonable cost for supplying the source code. You are not allowed to charge anything for the license. And of course modified open source software may only distributed with an open source license. Generally yes. The concept of 'free software' is almost identical Open Source, and one of the four fundamental freedoms is the freedom to run the software for any purpose.

That includes seeking profit. Yes, you can use open source software commercially. All Open Source software can be used for commercial purpose; the Open Source Definition guarantees this.

You can even sell Open Source software. However, note that commercial is not the same as proprietary. If you receive software under an Open Source license, you can always use that software for commercial purposes, but that doesn't always mean you can place further restrictions on people who receive the software from you.

In particular, copyleft -style Open Source licenses require that, in at least some cases, when you distribute the software, you must do so under the same license you received it under.

When using code from a copyleft license, the question then becomes whether you need to share your derivative source code. This depends on which copyleft license was used and what your program is doing with the code, as some licenses have what is known as the SaaS loophole which would allow you to use copyleft code server side without needing to release your code.

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. This means quoting from a resource link below that everybody can sell it via eBay or any other channel, for whatever price people are willing to pay, without any obligation to share their profits with the OpenOffice Community.

GPL and other FOSS licenses give everybody the right to "sell" software with the constraints above, for whatever price the market will bear. They do not, however, give anybody the right to fool customers or give them misleading information. They couldn't do it, even if those were good things. At the same time, in and by themselves, licenses can't protect you from certain abuses. Again, I'm not a lawyer, but here's an explanation that should be substantially correct.

Software licenses are applications of copyright. Software developers can impose conditions that is, licenses on the reuse and redistribution of their code, because they hold the copyright on that code.

Copyright also deals with attribution: in general, even if you may redistribute my code, you may not claim that you are the original author. Copyright and licenses do not regulate "identity"-related issues outside the code itself. Company names and logos, for examples, are the domain of different legal constructs, e. If you grab some software I released with a GPL or similar license, you do get the right among others to sell that code as I explained above, without giving a penny back or even saying thanks.

You do not, however, automatically get any right to:. This doesn't mean that those actions are always, surely illegal! The first is to convince the customer that my free software can solve their problem more elegantly than the alternatives. The second is to ensure that they can successfully deploy the solution optimally for their users with one of my service packages. If my software didn't really solve their problem, the user votes with their feet and finds another one.

And if my service packages didn't really create more value than they cost, we would never sell a thing. Open source applications, unlike most open source infrastructure solutions, can usually be offered in the cloud through fully managed service delivery. Building a cloud-based service delivery model gives the vendor the ability to have a renewable revenue stream while the end customer gets all of the advantages of cloud-based delivery.

But cloud-based delivery is perceived by many to be the ultimate form of lock-in. This issue is central—an open source company has an important decision to make and has to be clear about its purpose when doing so. The open source company can choose to offer its solution only in the cloud with no way to get data out of the cloud-based instance, or make it extremely painful to get data out as would be the case to migrate off proprietary solutions.

Or, the company can facilitate an exit and make this as streamlined as possible. While I was at OTRS, we chose to keep this door open, giving users the complete freedom to exit the cloud-based service and run the software on their own internal deployment without any penalty or lock-in.

It will happen someday, for certain, but it's not what most organizations want to do. Nonetheless, they feel better about having the choice—and that is the real freedom. It also means the open source software company has a great deal of confidence in its service delivery model and trusts that customers will agree.

Building a business around an open source software solution with a fully open approach takes a formula that seems simple and clear on the surface just give away the software and sell some services!

It takes commitment and courage within the organization to stay on the open path. It takes a readiness to shape and provide services people-based or delivery- and maintenance-based that are of genuine value.

It takes a commitment to freedom, something that may not be as obviously profitable and scalable as most investors like to see, but in the end, this is what customers want and are willing to pay for. I work for a small engineering firm with ancient server issues. We need a new server but it only needs to be for about 25 seats. Also, since there is really no industry standard for AutoCad, users computers should be Windows machines.

Trust me, if you are going to share. So we have a small business that could utilize a Linux server solution. Try and find one. Yes, there are companies that are selling Linux products that are made for small business, but getting access to them is difficult.

In the Metro NY area, finding a tech company that will sell, install and maintain a Linux system is difficult. I couldn't find one, but I was looking for a company to implement a particular product such as Zentyal or Clear OS.

That is the real issue. Trying to find companies to do the work you want. Part of witch is convincing your companies owner that Linux servers are compatible with Windows. The software is ready, it is robust and total cost of ownership is less maybe a LOT less then Windows solutions. Now, try and pick up the phone and call someone who will come to the office and sell the product.