What legal questions should I answer before migrating to open source software?

What legal questions should I answer before migrating to open source software?

What are the legal questions that my company should answer before migrating to open source software?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

    When you register, my team of editors will also send you resources covering Linux administration and management; integration and interoperability between Linux, Windows and Unix; securing Linux and mixed-platform environments; and migrating to Linux.

    Cathleen A. Gagne, Senior Editorial Director

    By submitting your registration information to SearchEnterpriseLinux.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchEnterpriseLinux.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

Here's my top 10 list of open source licensing and legal questions:

10. Is your company currently an open source enterprise? If not, is it planning a complete or partial migration to open source?

9. Have you inventoried all of your existing proprietary and open source licenses?

8. Which proprietary applications will the enterprise continue to use and what limitations are imposed by the licenses for those applications?

7. Which open source licensing structure is best for your needs?

6. How will open source code modifications be handled within your enterprise?

5. What rules have been adopted to manage those changes? And what provisions have been considered or made for assuring that only approved modifications are inserted in the code?

4. Will your enterprise be distributing code changes outside of the organization? If so, what provisions have been made for open source licensing compliance?

3. What are the terms and conditions of your support agreements for the proprietary applications that the enterprise will continue to use? How are those agreements impacted and implicated by the migration to open source?

2. Will the migration to open source impact interfaces with existing customers or vendors? If so, are there agreements that should be modified to accommodate these changes?

1. Why have you waited this long to consider open source?

This was first published in May 2003