I've been under the impression that if you take open-source software (like Linux, Apache, Java.. etc) and modify it, it can't be sold. However, I could be wrong, and that's why I'm asking.
RedHat sells their "enterprise Linux", and charges for it.. but I always thought that was because you're paying for their support, and not a license for the software itself. Can you provide paid support for open-source products that you didn't develop? (#1) (I'm guessing you can)
Oracle bought MySQL from SUN, but MySQL is listed as open-source (*and* also listed as proprietary) by Wikipedia. How can something be both open-source, and proprietary? (#2)
Java (also developed partly by Oracle) isn't proprietary, and is open-source... *but* they sued Google for using it. (That's my understanding, anyway.. but feel free to correct me on any of this). How can this happen, and why does there seem to be a grey area? (#3) (If there isn't a gray area, I'm just confused).
Also, how can someone find source code for a certain program that is open source? Is there a registry somewhere that contains it? (#4)
One more: Is there a process for buying source-code? And why do people seem to buy source code for things that won't generate money or sales? I once had a friend who programmed a game trainer in visual basic, and sold the source code for $1000 by some guy who used it for the game it was made for (Red Alert). I've always wondered why the guy wanted it... or paid that much for it. (#5)
Sorry for the list of questions. I numbered them to make things easier. Thanks!
RedHat sells their "enterprise Linux", and charges for it.. but I always thought that was because you're paying for their support, and not a license for the software itself. Can you provide paid support for open-source products that you didn't develop? (#1) (I'm guessing you can)
Oracle bought MySQL from SUN, but MySQL is listed as open-source (*and* also listed as proprietary) by Wikipedia. How can something be both open-source, and proprietary? (#2)
Java (also developed partly by Oracle) isn't proprietary, and is open-source... *but* they sued Google for using it. (That's my understanding, anyway.. but feel free to correct me on any of this). How can this happen, and why does there seem to be a grey area? (#3) (If there isn't a gray area, I'm just confused).
Also, how can someone find source code for a certain program that is open source? Is there a registry somewhere that contains it? (#4)
One more: Is there a process for buying source-code? And why do people seem to buy source code for things that won't generate money or sales? I once had a friend who programmed a game trainer in visual basic, and sold the source code for $1000 by some guy who used it for the game it was made for (Red Alert). I've always wondered why the guy wanted it... or paid that much for it. (#5)
Sorry for the list of questions. I numbered them to make things easier. Thanks!