GrowSense licensing

[John CC]

Does anyone have knowledge or experience with open source licenses?

The license approach I propose for all GrowSense IP (code, designs, etc.) is that they're free for non-commercial users (free as in free speech not as in free beer), and commercial users pay a license which is a share of their profits/savings.

Commercial farms would pay a license which is a portion of whatever they save in terms of labor, water, etc. and/or a share in their increase in profits caused by improved crop growth.

Each commercial user should ideally be able to choose an existing license option or negotiate a license fee which makes using GrowSense systems a win/win for everyone.

The license shouldn't stifle open source innovation. People are free to adapt, fork, remix, and use the IP however they want. Nothing should hinder them in any way. Back to the idea of free (as in free speech, not free beer), you can do/say/fork/adapt/remix whatever you want and no-one can stop you.

But if a corporation profits from GrowSense IP then it makes sense that they reward GrowSense with a share, and the obvious way to do that is to pay for a commercial license.

The issue with the Creative Commons license I see is that (as far as I understand it) it's free for commercial use, and commercial users don't need to pay anything back to GrowSense for using its IP. Correct me if I'm wrong.

This presents a problem in that people can profit from all the hard work that went into building GrowSense and nothing is returned. That would hinder the ability for the GrowSense business to be profitable, and therefore also hinder the innovation that the profits will help to produce.

For GrowSense to grow, it needs to generate revenue to pay for parts, infrastructure, running costs, etc. So having commercial users pay for a commercial license is beneficial for GrowSense, all contributors/shareholders (including Sensorica), and even for non-commercial users who get to use all the new innovations, products, improvements, etc. free of charge.

It is in the interest of GrowSense, Sensorica, and the open source community as a whole to ensure that GrowSense (and therefore all its contributors/shareholders) generate revenue from commercial use. This is how we produce an open source project/product and also build a business on top of it.

We need to choose a license which give GrowSense and all contributors, shareholders, and users the benefits of both worlds.

I will admit my knowledge of open source licenses is limited.

I would suggest we look at successful businesses built on open source code, etc. and choose a license which is proven to work and be win/win.

It seems that many of the Linux distros are good examples of this.

If anyone has knowledge or experiences with open source licenses please suggest one.

The license we choose can be decided by the group, based on discussion about the pros and cons.

Once decided, I'll commit the license into the git repositories.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Maybe we can create a shortlist of candidate license agreements and then whittle them down till we have a winner.

I feel like I'm attempting to do the job of what most business would have 10 or more people trying to do. So if others are prepared to step up and help, especially with the business aspects, that would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

John

[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

Hi John, 

While at it, we can add more info and insight to Sensorica's reflection on licensing. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12E9LpzyZGY8WS8PnomUOicMgAhLC9Q2X2yoOmV0zsYs/edit?usp=drivesdk

The power of an organisation comes also from its memory, meaning that we don't have to repeat the same process very time we encounter a situation. By recording our thinking and adding to it new stuff every time we're at it, we increase the organisation's ability to effectively deal with situations. 

My advice: every time you want to do something ask yourself if someone else has tried it before. Search our repository to find traces, ask people if they know something about it, and if there is already existing documentation, improve it. You save time, you diminish the possibility to repeat an error, and you help others in the future by improving the documentation :) 

John, your approach is a defensive one. You should look into the peer production license. 

https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Peer_Production_License

There is no universally good or bad approach. Any approach should serve a purpose and it is to be judged on the result, from empirical data. Many people think like you, and many are aligned with the peer production license. 

Personaly, I have a slightly different opinion. You can find it on the same page of the peer production licens, section Discussion, on the p2p Foundation wiki. 

John, please go through the Sensorica dox and the p2p Foundation page, and if you think you bring some original ideas on top of that, please insert them in both locations :) Please attract our attention there to see your additions, and give some time for others to digest everything, interact through comments and messages, and perhaps reach a new understanding and concensus. 

We can do this stigmergicaly, while building on past thinking. 

Thanks for opening up this reflection again. 

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[Joshua Lopez]

I’ve not done business with B-corps before. But, they’ve been on my list to research. To my surprise, while on their site. I input “sensor” in their search and it brought up Odyssey Labs out of London. Has anyone worked with or is familiar with them?

https://bcorporation.net/directory/odyssey-labs-ltd

Maybe they could become a strategic partner.

Josh Lopez

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Sensorica/CAH3XNQKNEvjExWAoRGomiJnZY6GPottyxGrDRhDvkxm1FR0BNA%40mail.gmail.com.

[John CC]

While at it, we can add more info and insight to Sensorica's reflection on licensing. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12E9LpzyZGY8WS8PnomUOicMgAhLC9Q2X2yoOmV0zsYs/edit?usp=drivesdk

The power of an organisation comes also from its memory, meaning that we don't have to repeat the same process very time we encounter a situation. By recording our thinking and adding to it new stuff every time we're at it, we increase the organisation's ability to effectively deal with situations. 

Good idea. I had a quick browse through that doc. I'll have to have a more thorough read when I've had more sleep.

My advice: every time you want to do something ask yourself if someone else has tried it before. Search our repository to find traces, ask people if they know something about it, and if there is already existing documentation, improve it. You save time, you diminish the possibility to repeat an error, and you help others in the future by improving the documentation :) 

I agree. Which is why I brought this up with the group.

I will admit when I read through mountains of documentation I often end up with information overload, especially when isn't my area of expertise.

I figured starting a discussion about this topic might help me avoid reading through mountains of information and help me get straight to the best bits.

John, your approach is a defensive one.

I wouldn't totally disagree with that. However I don't consider that to be necessarily a bad thing.

I'm all for upholding the ideals of open source, in terms of people be able to fork, remix, reuse, etc. I don't want to stop anyone from doing that.

But in terms of defending 5/6 or so years (I've started to lose count) of my work against commercial users taking advantage without providing fair compensation back to the project, yes you're right.

I consider being somewhat defensive is justifiable, so long as it doesn't hinder the underlying open source principles, considering the amount of work I've put into the project.

You should look into the peer production license. 

https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Peer_Production_License

This looks like an interesting candidate. I had a quick browse through it. I'll need to have a more thorough read when I've had more sleep.

There is no universally good or bad approach. Any approach should serve a purpose and it is to be judged on the result, from empirical data. Many people think like you, and many are aligned with the peer production license. 

I agree, different approaches suit different situations. And having a discussion about the pros and cons of various approaches seems like the best way to figure out the best approach for GrowSense.

Once we have a list of candidates, and have a discussion about them, maybe we can put forth a vote on which one people think is the best option. Then once we have a favorite, we can see if there are any objections to going with that. So we attempt to gain a kind of consensus.

Personaly, I have a slightly different opinion. You can find it on the same page of the peer production licens, section Discussion, on the p2p Foundation wiki. 

John, please go through the Sensorica dox and the p2p Foundation page, and if you think you bring some original ideas on top of that, please insert them in both locations :) Please attract our attention there to see your additions, and give some time for others to digest everything, interact through comments and messages, and perhaps reach a new understanding and concensus. 

We can do this stigmergicaly, while building on past thinking. 

Ok I'll try to have a good read tomorrow.

I will admit I'm running on fumes at the moment rather exhausted and overwhelmed at the amount of work I have to do to take the tech and build a business on top it. Hence my idea to crowdsource the research and decision via the group.