AV1611 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 I have worked with several forums and blog apps and I know which I like and don't. My question isn't one of preference, but rather of practicality. I am doing a web design and need to backend a support forum. I am looking for "legal" solutions. I am most comfortable with SMF, but I don't know how far I can "sell" a site with it? Perhaps another forum? Suggestions? At a minimum I need it to do rss feeds and be custom theamable to somewhat resemble the look and feel of the rest of the website. Oh, and I need to be able to sell the "configured" site legally... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maq Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Have you considered PHPBB, easy to customize, tons of mods, tons of themes, and great online support from their site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel0 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 I don't like SMF, nor do I like phpBB which Maq suggested. Personally I would go with something like vBulletin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbin Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 vBulletin costs money though, so you'll have to increase your price. I would just make sure you do 1 or 2 things, which ever forum you go with: -Check the license and see if it allows you to modify/sell it -If not, make certain in your contract with your client that they do not own the forum software, and refer them to the forum license Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardyandkari Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 -If not, make certain in your contract with your client that they do not own the forum software, and refer them to the forum license does this actually happen? i cant see a client going for that...i sure wouldnt...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbin Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Well, if the client ever wanted to cause problems or was an absolute idiot, that would help. It's basically just ass coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardyandkari Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 sounds like too much work... i say stick with freely distributable and sellable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel0 Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 There are many things which a client cannot own if you create something for him. Frameworks, libraries, etc. Otherwise you couldn't reuse any code and you would have to create everything from scratch. That would take a lot more time and it would be much more expensive for the client. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbin Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 sounds like too much work... i say stick with freely distributable and sellable. The concept of selling and owning rights too are kind of different in this context. Earlier I meant make it clear that you're not selling the rights to vBulletin. Like Daniel said, if you 'sell' them sell them as in like "Here's my scripts, they are now yours," then the company to whom you sell them then gains entire control over them. With freely distributable, there is no such thing as sellable. You can sell modifications or what ever. PHP is a good example. PHP is entirely free and distributable (well gettable would be more accurate. I don't know if one is allowed to distrib PHP without their approval.), but you can't sell PHP. You could sell the service of installing PHP or something, but you wouldn't(/couldn't) want to actually sell PHP. To expand on Daniel0's example, you wouldn't want your client thinking they were buying rights to your framework that took you forever to make so on. (Although most clients wouldn't think of it that way. It would mainly be if anyone decided to be a bitch.) It would be illegal to make it sound like they were buying something that's not your's by the way. If you wrongly worded a contract, you could end up in trouble for it. Just throwing that out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardyandkari Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 good points... i will keep that in mind when i start trying to sell my dinky program... basically, if i understand correctly... 1.) you dont sell the rights to the code. 2.) when you sell a program you are selling the ability to use the code. 3.) if it is someone elses code, you cannot "sell" the code, but charge to install it... so, when you more advanced developer types make a program for a client, do you have them sign a contract stating that they dont own the rights to the software? how does that look? i am kinda confused about that still... i have seen many people out there who are selling their own scripts for $25...all you do is pay and download the script...no contract to sign...is that in a tos or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbin Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 1. No, you sell the rights to use it. Unless of course you want to sell someone the exclusive rights to the software. (You could technically sell it without an exclusive license, but I don't feel like typing that out.) 2. Yup 3. Yes. Sort of. It depends on the license of the other code. If it says you can't make money off of it, in some cases, you couldn't even charge to install it. It just depends. I wouldn't consider myself an advanced developer, and I have very little client relations experience ;p. Probably a ToS in a tiny link somewhere saying the "buying the use of" stuff.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maq Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 If you stick to open source software there shouldn't be too many legalities to worry about. Although, I could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardyandkari Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 corbin...compared to me, just about anyone is considered an advanced developer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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