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The Software Process : Goals
First, your group must consider what it wants to accomplish with distribution of the software. Factors to consider are how you wish to allow others to use, copy, modify, change, test, demonstrate, sell, and distribute your data, source code, binaries and executables. The following are some questions to consider.
- Should software be distributed in source or binary form?
- Do you want to make this available to anyone via your website, or just to selected colleagues by request?
- Is your goal to disseminate software so that you can collect standardized data?
- Will you allow other university researchers to use source code to create new software? Should they own the software they create? Should they be required to make their software available to the academic community?
- Do you want to manage the distribution of any new software in order to maintain the integrity of the software and minimize proliferation of buggy derivative products?
- Should yours be the only group allowed to use the original name to maintain the reputation of your project?
- Should collaborators be required to provide attribution to you when they redistribute the software?
The TTO has different tools for releasing very early stage software. Please see the page on software licensing, the bulletin on early release software or contact us for more information.
If your group has any interest in seeing the software developed into commercial products in the marketplace, the TTO can also help your group think through questions about commercialization.
- Should for-profit companies be allowed to use the software for free or for a charge?
- Should free use by for-profits be limited to use on open source platforms, use for a limited period of time, or use by a small number of users?
- Could the software be used to generate revenue for CU and continued research?
- Are you interested in starting a company based on this software?
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Faculty/Staff/Student Investigators
