Naseef (Jan 16 2018 at 17:13): Naseef (Jan 16 2018 at 17:13):How does open source licenses work? Can I make my own open source license or should I use an existing popular license like GPL and BSD?
Naseef (Jan 16 2018 at 17:16):A license is just a set of rules a developer specifies about how others should use his/her work, right?
Daniel Rossberg (Jan 16 2018 at 18:53):The internet is full of these kind of advice:
https://ben.balter.com/2016/08/01/why-you-shouldnt-write-your-own-open-source-license/
Mahdi (Jan 16 2018 at 22:22):I don't think you should even attempt to write your own license without hiring a specialized legal advisor.
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:21):there's plenty of existing licenses to choose from that have been reviewed by lawyers and discussed by the open source community
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:21):https://opensource.org/licenses
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:21):I like MIT. It's very permissive.
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:21):we're in the process of trying to get BRL-CAD relicensed as Apache2+MIT
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:22):Can someone sell an MIT licensed program?
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:22):how's that possible?
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:23):why would it not be possible?
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:24):read the license, there's nothing in there that prevents sale ... in fact any license that does is probably not an open source license
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:25):MIT merely requires that you include a copy of the license
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:25):Is MIT the shortest license? One that fits a computer monitor?
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:25):with a readable font size.
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:25):if you have a smart phone and go to the about/legal section in your phone options, you'll see a full listing of various MIT/BSD/other licenses that they had to include
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:25):tucked away
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:25):no it's not
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:26):this is the full list: https://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:27):One night read entire GPL licence on my dad's android because I was sleepless and bored. LOL
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:27):only once*
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:27):shortest is probably the new 0-clause BSD license: https://opensource.org/licenses/FPL-1.0.0
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:29):or maybe https://opensource.org/licenses/Fair
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:48):anyone can use my program for any purpose
anyone can obtain full source code of my program
anyone can distribute my program but they must also give the same rights they have on my program
anyone can change the program (modify the source code) and not make available to public as long as they don't indent to redistribute it. If they redistribute the changed program, they must also give the source code and the rights they have.
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:49):Which license has similar rules?
Sean (Jan 17 2018 at 15:50):LGPL
Naseef (Jan 17 2018 at 15:50):Thanks!
Last updated: Jan 10 2025 at 00:48 UTC