this post was submitted on 18 May 2024
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Hey there.

Im working on a project for some software I want in the world. But I'm such a hobbyist that I've never thought of publishing any of my projects, but after doing so much work in it I kind of want other to have access to it after I feel its ready.

Whats the process of distribution? I guess I typically use github when interacting with FOSS community, but its still confusing for me to navigate as an end user sometimes, let alone being an uploader.

FWIW its simply a few python modules and other supporting txt and jsons. Targeting mostly Windows because that's what I use.

Thanks! (If this isn't the right place to ask please let me know!)

Edit: there are a bunch of great comments here! To clarify, I want to get it functional and somewhat bug free then fully upload everything so someone can see my idea and do it better. So I think I'm going to go with unlicense, because I don't really care about getting credit or getting contributions necessarily. Thanks all!

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Open source software literally means that the source code is available to anyone. In GitHub, that just means that your repo is public rather than private.

You can make publicly available any code that is fully under copyright. The reader cannot compile, modify, or redistribute it. It's called "source available".

Open Source has a specific definition that has been tested in court, which means that you are able to make modifications, transform, etc. within the confines of the license that is provided with the code.

There are two types of "free": free as in gratis (free beer) vs free as in libre (free speech). The OSS licenses very clearly dictate by which means that you are free.

Edit: added a source