Just checking where I stand.

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http://forums.oscommerce.com/viewtopic.php?p=119690#119690
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I am thinking of a plan to sell installations and customisation of OSCommerce to clients and contractors. What I plan is below.

- download initially Milestone releases of OSCommerce.
- Brand the sites as per client business
- Configure, upload and host said shops.
- Charge for the hosting, installation, and all other setups.
- Charge for initial (and furture) product additions that the client does not   
  want to do him/her self.
- Charge for admin and tech support, plus general maintenance and  
  routine backups.

If things go to plan, and I spend a lot of time, making money working with OSC, I will be learning my way through the framework and code, and would gladly contrbute any bug fixes or feature enhancements to the team, that come my way.

There are a few questions.  I know these will have been discussed previously, and excuse me for not wadeing through all the threads.

Copyright.  I understand the GPL to some degree, as a minor contributor for several OS projects.  I am a firm believer in open source.  As I understand it, I may use the software as I wish, as long as I do not try to pretend I wrote it, or remove credit from the rightful owners and that I make the source code available to anyone I pass the software to, should they require it.  (ie.  I do not attempt to package and extend the software and close source any part written or based on the OSC team code under the GPL).

What are the bottom line requirements of this?  For one, I believe the "Powered By:  OS Commerce" is required.  Does this "need" to be a link?  Are there any requirements as to where this appears?

If I market this as a product / service, do I need to mention the origins of the software?  I was intending on stating the "product" is based on a tried and tested core from an established OS developement team.  Do I need to provide specific credit to the OSCommerce organisation within marketing documentation.

I do not intend to charge for the software.  Software should be free.  I intend to charge for my time and expertise with web programming and the time and effort to set up and activate sites for clients.  Any extensions, modifications or improvements I make to the software I will offer back to the community for inclusion in any future GPL'd releases if they are deemed suitable. I will already have recieved money for time spent doing such modifications to the software, as a service charge, based on the clients requirements.  (A legal issue with the client may arise from that, but I can discuss that somewhere more relavent).

I also do not wish to rip anyone off, and that is why I am here. To confirm I understand the Licensing issues, and not get caught in a legal / financial / copyright battle later on.

Thank you for your time.