What I've found is that open sourcing components that are not central to your business, but that your business depends upon, provides you with free stress testing, bug fixes, and enhancements. That's a huge win, and leaves you with more resources to concentrate on things that ARE central to your business.

In order to maximize uptake on your open sourced component, it makes sense to have an uncomplicated license. Take a look at the following licenses:

http://www.opensource.org/licenses/MIT

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html

When I'm looking to use some component I found on the internet, part of my decision is based on the potential for legal pitfalls. I suspect that others feel the same way.