Can I use an open-source script on my own site, with my own label?

I know this is a ridiculously newbie question but I'm confused as it seems some I can, some...just seem like I couldn't possibly use them on my own site under my own label.

I'm looking for various chat and instant messaging script options for my site at NE1UP, something I can just plug-and-play, and I've stumbled on several really awesome open source projects.

Obviously, being white label, being 'NE1UP,' is important to me, so I don't want to use something I can't brand my own...so are these off limits? Or what?

For example, pidgin.im is an instant messaging client that allows you to talk to everyone you know (Yahoo, Gtalk, etc) in one place. It's open source. Kinda fits with NE1UP, which is what made me wonder. Also, status.net, a sort've Twitter script. Etc.

I have limited funds, so I'm trying to make the best choice I can when it comes to a script I can install at NE1UP and start moving forward with, so suddenly stumbling on really polished open source scripts really threw me for a loop, as I've been looking at chat scripts like BlaB and this one: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=2576581&highlight=buzzerchat

Really appreciate any guidance (or suggestions for script ideas for NE1UP to run on!) - thanks!

 

As long as it is licensed under the GNU General Public License, you can indeed take it and re-brand it as your own (same logic as when someone forks something like WordPress and call it their own name).

Just be aware that you must provide the source code for others to do the same should they wish to do so (if you are just going to be hosting it and not offering it for download, you do not need to do so). Just make sure if you go about removing the branding, that it is actually under the GNU General Public License and not just someone releasing the source code for free.

 

The irony in yer statement. Do you mean what open source is for? If its open source, you can use it any way you like, and there's no way anyone could oppose you.

 

The GPL is designed for freedom to do what you want with the source code so yes, you can use it for a different purpose for lets say edit it to add new features or rebrand but you must also release that as GPL. So if you allow people to download it, they too can do the same as you did.

However anything trademarked is not allowed so if you was to fork WordPress, you couldn't release it with all of WordPress's logo in it but you are free to release the source code. A good example to is CentOS and Redhat - look it up.

 

I know about CentOS and Redhat. Same is with Debian and Ubuntu. And slackware and SUSE

 

The conditions under which software is released are usually published. The Pidgin site says"

"Pidgin is free and contains no ads. All our code is open source and licensed under the GNU General Public License. This means you can get Pidgin's underlying code and modify it to suit your needs, as long as you publish the changes you make for everyone to benefit from as well."

That means that you MUST publish any changes you make, it's not up to you whether you publish them or not. (Linksys got into trouble for that.)

 

People can freely use the GPL license for their projects. This license allows users to modify, distribute, and even sell their work, as long as they make the source code available and keep it under the GPL license.