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  •   about 12 years ago

Open Source?

In the App Guidelines it states -

•Your App must be completely original, solely created by you, and not infringe on the rights of any third parties, including, but not limited to copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and rights of publicity/privacy, for example, it must not contain any third party names or trademarks, and must not contain any physical or verbal references to any third party companies.

Does this preclude the creation of apps based on existing, open-source software? Such an app, whether a fork of an existing project, or a new project utilising libraries of open-source code, would clearly not be completely original or solely created by its author, but nor would it infringe on any third-party rights (so long as it complies with the relevant licences), and I'm hoping it's only this last part which is important.

  • 6 comments

  • Manager   •   about 12 years ago

    This is an interesting question. Can you give some examples?

  •   •   about 12 years ago

    Well the question was really meant to highlight a wide range of scenarios, most of which I'm sure are not intended to be covered by the above rule, but all of which would be, given a literal interpretation of the phrase 'completely original, solely created by you'.

    For instance, there is source code provided along with the developer guide from Mark Murphy in the Resources; hopefully we are allowed to make use of that!

    On a slightly more formal level, there are any number of libraries available under a variety of licences, some of which place no restrictions on the app which uses them, others of which just require an acknowledgement, while those covered by the GPL or similar licences require the app itself to also be made open source.

    Then there is also the possibility of basing a new app on an existing open source one. I do have a few candidates in mind; one such is MultiVNC (and/or other Android implementations of VNC), which I think could benefit from the addition of support for external displays.

  •   •   about 12 years ago

    I really do need an answer to this as soon as possible. I don't want to start work on an entry that will not be eligible.

  • Manager   •   about 12 years ago

    I understand the urgency of this question, and I'm working to get you an answer. I'll post something here as soon as I have more information.

  • Manager   •   about 12 years ago

    Good news! The official rules (http://siliconimage.challengepost.com/rules) have been updated to specifically allow the use of third-party software, including open source software. The clarification is below. Now the pressure's on, cmconnell - I'm looking forward to seeing your entry, or better yet, entries. :)

    CLARIFICATION - MAY 11, 2014: While an entrant’s App may incorporate third-party software, including open source software, the App must include material and substantial functionality that adds significant value beyond the third-party software that is the result of entrant’s original work of authorship. Further, any use of third-party software must fully comply with all relevant software licenses, including open source licenses. Upon request entrants must provide evidence of its right to use any software that is encompassed within or was used in the creation of entrant’s App. Failure to do so or the improper use of licensed software or open source code may result in the disqualification of entrant’s App in the promotion.

  •   •   about 12 years ago

    Thanks for that.

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