What are the requirements and important issues before making a project 'open source'?

Question

What are the important details of hosting your project in an host. What are the steps to follow if I want to make my project open source.

Answer 1

The main steps that I can think of are:

• Make sure you have all the copyrights for your project
• Choose a license (see the other answer for that)
• Add the license to the project code and distribute

Answer 2

I'd suggest starting out by visiting the Open Source Initiative website. There you'll find the Open Source Definition, an FAQ, a list of open source licenses, and much more.

Answer 3

To add to the previous comments below, I would add that any license you may want to use should be put at the top of any source file or text file that is included in the distribution of the project, while including any and all prior license from those files.

Also, if some of your code is under another license, make sure you comply with the previous license in licensing your own package. As some of the text in existing licenses as well as your own are to be legal document, I strongly recommend you talk with a lawyer to protect yourself both in complying with existing license and your own license before you rel;ease the code.

Again, the web sources from previous messages should all be visited for further information.

*_{I do not work with any legal firm, nor am I a lawyer. I just used to work in an environment where legal opinions were one of the key activities.}