SWX: SWF Data Format

I've gotten a couple of questions asking about how SWX is licensed. I want to first answer this question in plain English as it concerns you, the Flash developer, before getting into the specifics.

A brief outline in plain English

The short answer is that SWX is open source. The source code that concerns Flash developers is licensed under the MIT License. The SWX server itself is licensed under the Creative Commons GNU GPL License.

What this means to you:

As a Flash Developer, you can freely use SWX to build and deploy both personal and commercial Flash projects. You can modify and build upon the sample applications and examples that come with SWX, and those you can find on my blog and on swxformat.org, provided that you give proper credit and you do not modify the copyright notice in the code.

If you are interested in the minutiae of the actual legalese, read on, and, if in doubt, always consult the actual license documents themselves.

SWX Licensing Details

SWX has several different components, each of which is licensed separately. Specifically, there is the (A) the SWX Server, (B) sample code, examples (both server-side and client-side) and the ActionScript API, and (C) documentation.

The spirit of licensing these components separately is to make sure that the correct license is chosen for each component to allow users as much freedom as possible in making use of SWX.

A. SWX Server

License: Creative Commons GNU GPL.

The SWX Server includes the SWX gateway, SWF assembler and all other server-side components that are integral to the functioning of SWX.

The rationale here is that if you change or improve the SWX Server and distribute the results, you should make your source and improvements available under the same license so that everyone benefits.

The GNU GPL license is basically the same license that Amfphp uses so you can use the SWX Server anywhere you are able to use Amfphp.

B. Sample code, examples, and the ActionScript API

License: MIT.

Sample code and examples (on both the client-side and server-side) and the SWX ActionScript API are released under the more liberal MIT license. This applies to all samples and examples that come with the various SWX download packages and to those on aralbalkan.com and swxformat.org.

This means that you can modify and use the code for the samples and examples (PHP, Flash, ActionScript, etc.) in your personal or commercial projects regardless of whether they are open-source or close-source. This includes the ActionScript API for SWX (the PHON serializer, etc.) So, to make it crystal clear, if you make a Flash or Flex application that is based on the Flash and ActionScript code in SWX, you can pretty much do whatever you like with it (except remove the copyright notice in the code or hold me liable for damages, etc.) See, I told you it was a liberal license!

C. SWX documentation and blog post content

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence.

Basically, you are free to do what you like with the SWX Documentation and blog post content as long as you give proper credit and share your modifications under the same license.