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Ask HN: How to make self-hosted software without open sourcing it?

2 points by picklevick 5 years ago · 4 comments · 1 min read


Are there examples of ways one can make software that companies can host internally without open sourcing the code to said software?

Looking for some guidance as to how to be able to do that.

Cheers

numpad0 5 years ago

License under proprietary terms?

Like “This software is copyrighted by Picklevick Corp, you don’t hold any rights we grant you mere permissions to use it. Don’t poke your head around it”.

You can’t have GPLv2/v3 or similarly licensed components in it though. If you do and later caught, you’ll be obligated to either cease its use and distribution, or completely revise your term and supply the source code to recipients(you don’t have to put it on the Internet)

wmf 5 years ago

Don't ship the source code?

  • picklevickOP 5 years ago

    How would I give users the ability to self-host the software then?

    • lordkrandel 5 years ago

      Either you use a compiled language like C/C++ and distribute the binaries or you obfuscate the source when you distribute it.

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