Recently, I finished working on a software project that I’m especially proud of. It took months of effort to complete, and the final result was something that perfectly fit my needs. It was a labor of love.

It’s not important to reveal the purpose of the software here, or the technical details of its inner workings. Simply allow me to say that it’s something that I will use right away, and that other programmers may find useful as well.

When the project was complete, there were a few important decisions that I needed to make. How do I share what I’ve created? How can I get fair compensation for my efforts? And how do I protect what I’ve created from unscrupulous profiteers?

Getting fair compensation for our individual efforts is part of the equation here. Yes, I’m aware that GPL licensing makes a distinction between “Free as in Speech” and “Free as in Beer”. Yes, I know that I can charge a fee for my efforts.

I’m curious to know what other software developers are doing about this. What considerations go into the decision-making process? What works and what doesn’t?

Lately I’ve begun to wonder if open-source licensing has failed to keep up with technology. The first version of GPL debuted in 1989, and was updated soon after in 1991. The most recent revision of GPL was in 2007. That was 14 years ago!

I've explored this topic more fully in this JavaScript Fanboi article.

I haven’t figured out where to go from here, but it feels like something needs to change.