The Open Source Alternative: Understanding Risks and Leveraging Opportunities [Hardcover]

Heather J. Meeker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470194952 | ISBN-13: 978-0470194959

This book is a user manual for understanding and deployment of open source software licensing in business. Written for lawyers and businesspeople alike, it explains and analyzes open source licensing issues, and gives practical suggestions on how to deal with open source licensing in a business context. Including useful forms, information, and both technical and licensing background, this book will help you avoid legal pitfalls and edcuate your organization about the risks of open source.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In her book, Heather Meeker does a good job describing the "border dispute" of the Copyleft provision in the GPL" (ccsblog, March 16th, 2009)

"So I would say, this is the book to read, for a good account of the legal aspects surrounding open source." (dw2-o.com, 7/6/08)

From the Inside Flap

Almost every engineer developing technical products wants to use open source software. It's free, reliable, and can cut product development cycles. But convincing management to jump on board may be a challenge. Open source can have legal strings attached. How does a company use open source intelligently, without stepping on a lawsuit land mine? Based on the author's ten years of broad experience in the trenches of intellectual property licensing, The Open Source Alternative is a practical guide for anyone who needs to find out more about the legal intricacies, risks, and rewards of open source.

Written in plain English for both lawyers and professionals, The Open Source Alternative shows you how to implement open source intelligently, without compromising the value of your intellectual property. Coverage includes:

• What is open source?

• Philosophy of free software

• The vocabulary of free software and open source

• Common open source licenses and their structure

• Due diligence and license housekeeping

• Audits and compliance initiatives

• Patents and open source

• Trademarks and open source

• GPL version 2 compliance and the "derivative works" controversy

• Developing a corporate open source policy

• Enforcement of open source licenses

• Open source in acquisition and licensing transactions

• GPL version 3.0 update

The Open Source Alternative fills the need for a practical, objective book on the implications of open source in business. Author Heather Meeker provides background on both legal and technical principles, complemented by a wealth of references for follow-up. The book also includes a glossary, index, and a collection of documents and forms to help you in your business.

Open source and proprietary software are likely to coexist for decades to come. The Open Source Alternative will help you better understand the legal principles at work in the heterogeneous software landscape of today.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 285 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (February 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470194952
• ISBN-13: 978-0470194959
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stands Apart, March 31, 2008

By 

Todd Smithline (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Open Source Alternative: Understanding Risks and Leveraging Opportunities (Hardcover)

Three different domains - technology, law and business - intersect in the world of open source software and Meeker's book manages to address each of the three at an expert level while still synthesizing the larger issues relevant to everyone in the field. While the topic of open source has generated a flood of commentary, the type of careful and reasoned analysis offered in this book is in short supply and makes The Open Source Alternative stand apart from similar recent offerings. All that and it's very readable too!