What does it mean to create open-source software, say, and release it for general use? Most people, up till Thursday last week, would have said that anyone can use it, change it and even sometimes redistribute it. It's free, right?

Well, as of Thursday the 14th of August, 2008, the U. S. Federal Appeals Court has overturned an earlier ruling about open-source software. This case has now been used to clarify the ruling that while open-source software can be put out for free, and used for free, the material comes under "artistic" license, and as such, the creator of said software can place certain restrictions upon its use. Further, crediting the creator is important (though we tend to do that anyway, since the open-source community is about collaboration).

To the creator of some open-source material, then, it becomes important to look at one's license structure, and decide how one wants to restrict it, or open it, depending on the project and environment. I can't see some products that are constantly being tweaked, developed, or improved being too strongly affected by this ruling. But individual projects? Yes, I can. It can be a very good thing, too. While keeping open-source functionality, keeping costs at next-to-nothing (barring equipment, naturally), we can help to focus our work or others' work without putting too strong a fence around it.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. One article source for this topic is located here.