Considering Paying For My Own Power License...

[cowboy.coder.killer]

Howdy Y'all,

RE: SmartGWT 4.0, GWT 2.5.1, Java 6

I've recently joined a project wherein my mandate is to debug a SmartGWT LGPL-based webapp that was coded by cowboys.

The first cowboyish thing they did was code the webapp with the LPGL version of SmartGWT! But please don't get me started on the oh-so-many reasons those Bozos classify as cowboys. I'm sure you know the type. Anywho...

I intend to make as compelling a case as I possibly can to the powers-that-be to fork out for two Power licenses for my one other team mate and myself. However, this project is on a shoestring of a budget. So I'm not holding my breath for that. That brings me to my questions...

Hypothetically, let's say I buy a single Power license for myself — out of my own pocket...

• How does that affect what my one other non-licensed team mate can and can't do when working on the same codebase — on a different workstation, of course — that I would be working on with my Power license?
• How long would my single Power license be good for?
• In the future, can I use the same Power license on a different client's project at a different site on a different workstation?
• Are any discounts available to Non-Profit Organizations?
• Are these kind of questions already answered anywhere else?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Yours,
CCK

[Isomorphic]

These questions are all covered in the Licensing FAQ.

In a nutshell:

1. just buying one Power License for the whole team doesn't work. All developers that contribute to a given application must have the same level of license

2. licenses are perpetual for the major version you purchase

3. no, licenses are per-organization and per-developer, so each organization is going to need licenses in order to deploy the software you build

4. yes, there are discounts available for some kinds of non-profits, especially charities

The Licensing FAQ has a lot more detail on each of the above.

[cowboy.coder.killer]

Muchas Gracias,

You answers are super, super helpful. However this one tells me I probably didn't word one of my original questions clearly enough...

...
1. just buying one Power License for the whole team doesn't work. All developers that contribute to a given application must have the same level of license
...

I will most certainly read the Licensing FAQ in detail. However, for the sake of clarity, the crux of my hypothetical scenario was about buying and using the Power license ONLY for code that I alone would develop. The licence would not be bought for the team.

The idea is that I see the Power features as a set of tools that would make my life easier. Certainly the project and the team will benefit from that. It might be subtle. But the difference — as I see it — is in the intent. Plus the fact that I'd be paying for it myself. The «team» wouldn't.

You see, the tasks and workload of the two-man team of which I am a member are divvied up in such a way, that the work assigned to me cries out for the features that the Power version brings to the table. The tasks assigned to my one and only team mate on the other hand — not so much.

So to paraphrase my original question: Is it possible for only one team member of an N-man team to write and deploy code that requires a commercial license, while the other team members coding and deploying the same SmartGWT app, work on the parts of the code that only uses LGPL features which do not require a commercial license?

I will most definately read the Licensing FAQ in detail though. Thanks again for your earlier answers. Super, super helpful.

[Isomorphic]

Just keep reading through the Licensing FAQ - it covers the different scenarios of contributing with different licenses in depth.