AutoHotkey Community

....sorry, not going to read thru seven pages to make the comment that popped to mind when I read the title, so if I repeat somebody (you?), oops.

I think AHK is the greatest. People that watch the scripts we use at work stare and wonder, if not ask, how we are doing that. I tell everybody about it. ...the computer people I talk to at work, Fed-x, UPS, hosts, coders, cheats, ...its great for everybody! Most people only pretend to be listening, too bad. ...I've often wondered how many ahk script live on the computers at microsoft.

You have to write a script to open your mind to the possibilities. I've had coders look at the things my scripts do and want to hire me instead of learn it for themselves. What they don't understand is how far just a basic knowledge of it will take you.

I read one post where somebody mentioned that sometimes it can't do fast. Maybe, but it certainly helps you to do MOST things faster. It has saved about 10 positions where I work. Thats 10 employees we didn't have to hire to process stuff by hand. (they are tight, and still using old unix management software that doesn't blend with windows)

These scripts can be a very valuable commodity and I have thought about selling them. ......er um, the way I would do it is sell a service. AHK is free (makes me do a reality check every time I say that). Charge them (exorbitantly maybe) for the time it takes to write, administer and maintain or update the script. Its not as complicated as licenses, copyrights, etc. If your worried about protection, I'm not sure but if you give them a compiled exe, ...to backwards engineer it would be more of a pain than just writing something that copies its functionality. (?) I don't know, but if you make money by using AHK, don't forget to feed the machine. I wish I could write a big fat check from my employer, hehe. ....just kidding, but seriously, stuck with the scraps. (that sounds like something you should see a doctor for!)

There are 7 pages on this topic, but the only question that matters has not yet been answered:

Are programs made with AutoHotKey then compiled to an *.exe, are they legal to sell?

Such as, $5.00 cash for a CD (each cd containing the exe and a license, which checks on the internet if its a valid unpirated copy.)

Yes/No

Is that enough answer for you?

Hmm yepp thanks, I think ill sell my programs for about $5 CASH a pop (at school lol)

but how sure are you on this? out of 100%

Since Chris, who created the program, says it's okay to sell, I'd say you can definitely sell.

oh that guy with the name "Chris" was the programmer of AutoHotKey Itself?

Yup.

I'd add that although Chris has given permission, small parts of AutoHotkey were written by other people, so it isn't definite. It has been discussed...

gaah, there's always like exceptions and long explanations to everything, all people want is Yes/No
But cant have that in real life can we.

I guess ill ask my computer teachers in school
on the other hand, no ones really gonna know if the transaction is in Cash eh?

Well, let's say this. It is probably (but not surely) 100% fine to sell programs written in AHK.

Whether or not it is, I don't think there is anyone who is going to persecute you With Chris, the main programmer/maintainer, being completely willing to allow people to sell, it seems unlikely that you are going to get into any trouble. Especially if you're just selling it to your friends at school...

yipp but once business takes off, ill post up posters about it at laundry places and public places hehe =)

but for now, just a $5 cash
and if I doo get in trouble, what can I expect anyone know?

p.s. thanks you guys, I really appreciate the replies

I did not read all pages, because its too many.

But I want give my thoughts to that point. First, if Chris says it is ok to sell compiled scripts written in AutoHotkey, it does not mean that he can decides this alone. All compiled scripts contains the code to execute that script, which is under the GPL. That is the point. The code to execute any AutoHotkey script IS AutoHotkey AND it IS GPL.

And compiled programs under the GPL needs to show the source code for every one who wishes to see this. Thats the spirit of GPL.
Thats one point.

Everyone can sell a program under the GPL, but the source must be open. You can take if you want 200 dollar, it doesnt matter (if you the owner of that source). You can sell your scripts, but you cannot sell AutoHotkey, because it is not your work. But like said, your script can contain any license you choose, because it is your work. It doesnt matter which program you used to generate the source code.

And if Chris uses a custom license, then he cannot use the GPL license text and cannot say that it is a GPL. If he wish to use a custom license, then why dont he change it? There are programs in the world out, which have been released in different licenses (I am not sure which software it was).


The one which is released cannot be changed, but any new release can contain any other license. Or one version can contain different releases with different licenses.

But I think selling is allowed, because the included interpreter is not usable in other ways. It does just interpret that script and we cannot use this AutoHotkey code from that compiled exe.

That does not mean the GPL applies to the script. Chris' conclusion was that since it can be separated (via exe2ahk), the script is not part of a derived work, and therefore GPL does not apply to it... or something along those lines. The source code for the AutoHotkeySC.bin used to create the compiled script must be available, however.
Some of the GPL code included in AutoHotkey was not written by Chris, so the license cannot be changed that easily.

FYI, I think this has all been mentioned in this thread, perhaps more than once. I did read all the pages.

From wikipedia:

The developers of AutoIt originally released the source code under the GPL license but the practice was discontinued beginning with version 3.2.0 in August 2006.

I wonder if this would have much effect on the gpl code in AHK.