Startups stand on the shoulders of giants, developing proprietary applications on top of a software landscape that heavily leverages open source components. But as the saying goes, free software is not free, and using open source software requires that organizations understand the legal framework of open source.
Failure to follow the licensing conditions for open source software can result in lawsuits, bad public relations, and more. To reduce risk, companies large and small need to have a basic understanding of open source license conditions and have in place an actionable list of best practices that includes seeking legal guidance when necessary.