OS.Cash Logo The License

OS.Cash FAQ

Should indie developers provide free upgrades forever to Billion Dollar Businesses?

What is OS.Cash’s mission?

Promote the success and longevity of open software developers by getting Big Business Users to pay. 

What's the Long Game here?

Right now, the situation of far too many independent software developers is best summarized by jgilias on HackerNews:

  1. Release under a permissive license (MIT, BSD) and:
    1. Have everyone and their grandma use it
    2. Die poor
  2. Release under a copyleft license (GPL) and:
    1. No company is going to use or contribute to it, unless they can unless they can somehow clearly separate it from what they see as their intellectual property. Or just hide it where nobody sees it
    2. Die poor
  3. Release it under a commercial license and:
    1. Nobody uses it
    2. Probably die poor
  4. Dual license it as GPL and commercial and:
    1. Sue everybody as they are just taking the GPL version and never looking back. Especially if they can hide it somewhere
    2. Die poor


Pick your poison.

This situation is wrong, and it can be fixed.

Both the "Free Software" and "Open Source" movements leave a lot to be desired in how much commercial support we would like to see in exchange for use of otherwise "free software". The core reason is not that large enterprises are unwilling or unable to offer financial support. The core reason is that the wrong kind of financial support is being demanded.

By making the software "free to use" for even the largest enterprises on the planet, the only way for those enterprises to financially give back is to make a "donation", which is organizationally a far more complicated procedure than paying an invoice.

We see a future where the "starving developer with millions of downloads" is a thing of the past. It's fine to give Billion Dollar Businesses generous terms. Let them try for six months or even twelve months before they buy. Offer them great support. Help them to achieve their goals that help us all.

The way we get there is by re-licensing software that large organizations are already dependent on, under reasonable terms. We need to do this carefully, in a trustworthy way. We need these organizations to see that it's a win-win relationship. They get better software, better support, less abandon-ware. We treat them honorably, charging reasonable fees, offering flexible terms.

Eventually, we can build a future where the norm for releasing a piece of NEW SOFTWARE is to use the OS.Cash License or another fair-code license, without this causing any resistance to the adopting of that software, simultaneously materially rewarding successful developers.

What are OS.Cash’s value adds?

We provide infrastructure, administration, commercial and ongoing back-office operations. You focus on software development. We address:
  • Licenses, Contracts 
  • Commercial Negotiations 
  • Sales and Marketing 
  • Billing, Record-keeping Accounts Receivables, Terms, Collections 
  • Whistle Blower and other Reporting Programs 
  • Cease & Desist, Dispute Resolution Strategy & Prep, Damages & Interest, Enforcement

What's NEW here?

OS.Cash is a SYSTEM to generate revenue thorough ongoing License subscriptions for Billion Dollar Businesses.

We'll help you to do this all yourself, or if you prefer, we offer a service to do it all for you.

OS.Cash Licenses are Fair-code style license that can generate substantial cash for you if your software has large business users.
We provide both the Free License, and the Paid License that you can use to generate revenue now.

Building your own system on Stripe to collect credit card sales may generate a few hundred dollars at a time.
Collecting license subscriptions from Billion Dollar Businesses requires negotiation to customize the terms and conditions to meet their unique needs. Use the OS.Cash Paid License as your starting point.

OS.Cash Licenses operates the same as a free-software license for the vast majority of users, minimizing the risk that a project is forked.

Rather than irritating DRM systems, we rely on anonymous reports to find violators and sharing proceeds with supporters.

OS.Cash Butler is our white-glove complete service, handling all commercial aspects of your license while you focus on writing great code. We designed the Butler service to work with the OS.Cash License. If you're already using another fair-code license, we can still provide the OS.Cash Butler service to you.

Can I speak with you?

 Definitely. Contact Us.

How can I sign up?

 Easy. Contact Us. 

How much does this cost me?

You're welcome to use the OS.Cash licenses for free. We'll even provide you some 1-on-1 support for free.

Even if you use our "do everything for me and send me a check" Butler Service, there are zero out of pocket fees.

For the OS.Cash Butler service, we initially charge 25% of gross revenue (excluding taxes and transaction fees) and, unlike the app stores, the more revenue your software generates, the lower our percentage goes.

What if I decide to quit?

If you're using the OS.Cash Butler service, where we handle sales, marketing, and commercial issues on your behalf:
- You can cancel anytime within the first 10 days
- You can cancel anytime with 90 days notice (because Billion Dollar Businesses often require payment terms that make immediate termination very difficult)

What do I need to provide to start?

 Very little, in fact. Your name and your email.

What is OS.Cash?

OS.Cash is a fair-code license designed to replace the permissive license of widely-adopted, free software. In the OS.Cash Family of licenses, code remains open, forkable and FREE, with one, single, limited exception: Billion Dollar Businesses. 

Importantly, the source code reverts to the permissive free-software license it was previously licensed under (e.g., MIT/BSD/Apache) when maintenance ends.

Other licenses similar to OS.Cash?

None that: 
  • Offer ready to use "commercial license" to complement the free license;
  • Offer an optional turn-key service (to resolve back-office operational, managerial and administrative matters);
  • Enforcement that avoids DRM schemes and rewards supporters
  • Generate revenue from Billion Dollar Businesses for our developers;

If your software is already under another fair-code license we can still provide Butler Service to operate the license business on your behalf.

Free vs Library License?

When we were investigating how OS.Cash License could be applied to a popular library like Core-JS that's in desperate need of financial support, we realized there are some cases where the OS.Cash License would cause too great an immediate impact on the ecosystem around the Library.

For those cases, we developed the OS.Cash Library Library License...

See:

https://github.com/zloirock/core-js/issues/1179#issuecomment-1980376817

Compared GPL "dual licensing"?

When using dual licensing with the GPL, companies must pay for a commercial license to use the software with their closed source code.
GPL dual licensing only works for infrastructure products that other companies want to deeply embed in their product.
If the value your software provides comes from using it without changing the code, under the GPL there's no incentive for your enterprise users to purchase a license. Everyone can use the GPL licensed version for free.

OS.Cash works for any kind of software product that has Billion Dollar Businesses users.

I still have questions?

 Yes! We would love to discuss your questions or comments. Contact us!

Can I mix OS.Cash with other code?

While under the OS.Cash license, the mixed code will be bound by the license of the OS.Cash code and the license of the other code. So for example, mixing OS.Cash code and 3rd party GPL code might be difficult.

After maintenance ends, the final mixed code will be bound by the pre-OS.Cash license (e.g., MIT/BSD/Apache), along with whatever licensing requirements are mandated by the other code’s license.

Dual-licensing OS.Cash and AGPL-3?

The underlying value underneath AGPL and OS.Cash are similar; both call out that something of value, something special, has been created and, if you use it, something is needed in return to keep things moving forward. In other words, an exchange of value is taking place, an agreement to support each other exists; this is not an unconditional give-away.

In the case of the AGPL, forever-access to the code is value provided in exchange for the software; such that, anyone and everyone can enjoy future improvements and derivatives. In the case of OS.Cash, wealthy organizations (specifically, Billion Dollar Businesses) need to pay for use of the software (in order that the developer is supported).

For the AGPL-3 projects that you already have, as long as you hold the copyright to all of the non permissively licensed code in the project, then yes, absolutely, you may dual-license under both the AGPL-3 and OS.Cash. Then you can give your users the choice of which license they use, allowing user's to select AGPL terms or OS.Cash terms. The risk here is that Billion Dollar Businesses may choose to use your software under the AGPL terms, for free, without purchasing an OS.Cash license for use.

Note that in section 10 of the AGPL-3 (and GPL-3), you are explicitly prohibited from charging any form of license fee, while the point of OS.Cash is that independently developed free-software should is not unconditionally free for Billion Dollar Businesses.

Free Software Foundation Compatibility?

Public Domain and Permissively Licensed (MIT/BSD) code can also be considered "GPL code" when it's incorporated into GPL projects.
Fair-Code Licensed code cannot automatically be considered "GPL code"

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is an activist organization for the promotion of the GPL.
The FSF not advocate for the Open Source Initiative (OSI) and "Open Source" because it misses the point of free-software.
The FSF wrote Avoiding Ruinous Compromise concerning their goal to "make all software free".

FSF founder Richard Stallman's thoughts are clearly captured in host post clang vs free software

The existence of LLVM is a terrible setback for our community precisely because it is not copylefted and can be used as the basis for nonfree compilers

Any software that is not explicitly GPL licensed will incur some amount of dissatisfaction on the part of the FSF.


Using with Closed-Source code?

Yes, but you must either purchase a commercial license for the OS.Cash code or ensure that your product doesn’t exceed the OS.Cash’s grant of rights. 

For any software that adds substantial value and does not operate as a license circumvention measure, we will offer very reasonably priced bulk licensing terms such that it remains very feasible to build your independent commercial software business on top of OS.Cash-licensed components. 

Redistribute under MIT/BSD License?

No. Your modified version consists of the original program (which is OS.Cash-licensed) and your modifications, which constitute a derivative work of the original program, will also be OS.Cash-licensed. The OS.Cash license does not grant the right to redistribute under a permissive license like MIT.

How to license patches?

License your code using the BSD or MIT license or dedicate it to the public domain. Code contributions under “BSD/MIT” are compatible with OS.Cash. 

Can I refer Programs to OS.Cash?

Yes, absolutely. When you refer a program that is licensed under the OS.Cash family of licenses, you can enjoy a $$ bonus $$!

Just Contact Us to provide the referral details, (common sense) terms apply and will be provided.

Can I refer someone who is violating the OS.Cash Free License?

Yes, absolutely. But, to be clear, only a Billion Dollar Businesses can violate the payment terms of the license.

Everyone else, and we mean everyone, uses the Program for free under the OS.Cash Free License.

Submit an anonymous report via our Report Piracy page.

You can be paid $750 for a qualifying report, as well as earn a percentage of amounts subsequently collected from the violating Billion Dollar Businesses violator; (common sense) terms apply and will be provided.

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Who are we?

Developers that have been using Linux non-stop (except a few years with OpenBSD) since downloading Slackware in the 1996.

Our paths crossed with Nestor Gounaris, a corporate and commercial lawyer with over twenty years’ experience in Asia and the United States, (and who also teaches international business transactions at four top tier law schools in the United States), and our visions quickly aligned. 

Why do this?

We have been developing software for decades and have also been managing businesses for quite a while, too. As a result, we are aware that the OS.Cash family of licenses offers an alternative for free-software developers who suffer needlessly as a result of being unpaid by Billion Dollar Businesses.

Once supported, the developers can promote the reliability, security, stability and enterprise features of their software– which is precisely what Billion Dollar Businesses want, and prioritize.

How can I talk with you?

Great; we want the same thing. Contact Us.