Fear, uncertainty, and doubt are major factors when a company first considers using open source software. Programmers tend to love open source software. They say it is stable, cheap, and available online. They may already be contributors to the open source movement. It saves them time. It is much less expensive than other alternatives. Yet, Chief Information Officers and business executives hear other stories that give them pause about using open source software. They hear that some companies are very publicly opposed to it. They hear of lawsuits and threatened lawsuits. Frequently, attorneys within companies are opposed to the use of open source software for reasons that are heartfelt and seemingly logical. This article reduces the fear-uncertainty-doubt factor by clarifying the legal issues associated with open source licensing. In most ways, open source licenses are just like any other license to software. With an understanding of how intellectual property laws work and how software is built, one reads the license agreement to determine what a licensee can and cannot do, what the licensee must or must not do, and how the agreement allocates risks. There are some activities for which companies should not use some open source software. In other situations, many companies will decide that the use of open source software is perfectly acceptable.
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