Is vBulletin open source?

[webdesigner]

Is it?

[MUG]

I wouldn't consider it open source:

http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition_plain.php

[Wayne Luke]

Correction... vBulletin is "visual source" meaning you can see the source code and it is not compiled.

Open Source denotes that the software is distributed under the GNU Public license or a derivative allowing free distribution. vBulletin does not qualify for this defination and is only available legally through commercial purchase.

[Dominick]

Correction... vBulletin is "visual source" meaning you can see the source code and it is not compiled.

Open Source denotes that the software is distributed under the GNU Public license or a derivative allowing free distribution. vBulletin does not qualify for this defination and is only available legally through commercial purchase.

good reference for oss licenses right here

[Wayne Luke]

good reference for oss licenses right here

I don't need a reference because this product is not open source.

[Dominick]

I don't need a reference because this product is not open source.

was not meant in that sense. I shouldnt have even quoted your statement

it was more of a general fyi...

sorry if you took it otherwise or if I offended.

[webdesigner]

Re:

When I said open source I meant can it be altered with the same way a forum solution such as phpBB can?

[webdesigner]

Re:

It can be altered for your own personal use, although you have to leave the copyright notices in tact (of course). You also cannot distribute the files. So, it's open-code (meaning everyone [who has a license] can see and alter the code) but not re-distributable.

IMO, open source is evviiiillllllll.

Ok, that all sounded smart in my head -- hopefully it really is an intelligable sentence. Give me a break, it's early.. heh.

If open source is evil, then you better ditch Linux, Apache, and PHP, which is what this site is run on

[Kaya]

If open source is evil, then you better ditch Linux, Apache, and PHP, which is what this site is run on

Great comeback (round of applause!!!)

[Wayne Luke]

It isn't evil... Some people do take things to extreme with Open Source though and feel that programmers should not be able to make a living off their work.

Eventually there will be a happy medium between Open Source and Commercial software. However it will take the elimination of fanatics on both sides.

[webdesigner]

Re:

I'm all for Commercial bulletin boards, as long as the developers truly care about their customers the same way open-source developers do

[Floris]

Open Source doesn't mean it is freeware, like many think.

vBulletin is not open source, yeah, you can see it, but that doesn't mean you can re-distribute it and/or that you can help assist in development. This is set to a few selected.

It is view source, obviously.

[webdesigner]

Re:

And commercial software that costs money should still be open-source, meaning that the buyer can custimize it however he she wants as long as they don't distribute it, I just don't like it when vBulletin fans hate phpBB or phpBB fans hate vBulletin, there shouldn't be that friction, it's not like were talking about evil Micro$oft here who truly do suck

[webdesigner]

Re:

And from what I see, the only limitation for vBulletin is that you can't remove the tag, that doesn't mean it's not open source, phpBB and YaBB enforce the same rule, closed-source to me is something that Micro$oft would release, where you can't change it at all

[Chen]

You certainly have it in for Microsoft, eh?