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Licensing: Difference between revisions
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'''ToDo: This page is under construction (mainly) by MartinBaute; before
being "released" (i.e., linked from HomePage), it will be reviewed by
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'''ToDo: Requires some better structuring, and is not yet finished.'''
:"Reading legal mush can turn your brain to guacamole!" - ''Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: Includes & Autodocs, 2nd edition''
== Introduction ==
When the idea for a brilliant new piece of software strikes, Licensing Issues are usually the last thing you want to think about. But Licensing Issues can ''bite'' you afterwards, in a way that ''really'' hurts. So it might be best to spend a moment of consideration. This text actually does not apply only to OS development, but to software in general.
Probably the scariest thing about software licenses are the endless paragraphs of legalese; we try to keep this text as crisp and short as possible.
== Popular Licenses ==
Here's the most popular ones, with a '''very''' short version of the licence (to help you all):
[
:Users have a right to receive source code, and are free to use, modify, and redistribute as long as sources remain available and everything stays under GPL. Object files linked to GPL'ed code fall under GPL too.
[http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html#LGPL GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL)]:
:Users have a right to receive source code, and are free to use, modify, and redistribute as long as sources remain available and everything stays under LGPL or (optionally) GPL. Object files linked to LGPL'ed code are unaffected by the LGPL, but users must be able to link themselves (i.e., distribute your non-(L)GPL'ed object files ''separately'', not linked to the LGPL'ed code).
[http://www.xfree86.org/3.3.6/COPYRIGHT2.html#5 Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) License]:
[[wikipedia:Public_Domain|Public Domain]]:
▲[GNU General Public License (GPL) | http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html#GPL]:
▲ Users are free to use, modify, and redistribute, with or without source code,
▲ Copyright is waived, and no restrictions are placed on use, modification, or
▲*Proprietary Licenses*:
▲ _Licensed_ users are free to use; _perhaps_ (depending on contract) they may
▲*No License Information*:
▲ Defaults to "all rights reserved", which usually surprises both authors and
== Being Employed as Software Developer ==
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dedicated software engineer, happy about having such an enthusiastic individual
under contract, and tell you to go ahead with your spare-time project. At worst,
you will be told that you cannot work on that project -
out 10k lines of source code and been sued by your employer.
This is not a joke, or something to be taken lightly. You could lose your job,
and a fortune in money on top of that, should your employer play it rough and
sue you for breach of contract. The [
requires you to present papers signed by your superiors before accepting your
code submissions, and they don't do so because they enjoy bureaucracy.
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=== Proprietary License Statement ===
It is virtually
licenses (subject to the actual license). Usually, you won't even have access
to the sources.
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place both in source and documentation (if any).
:''I am not at all sure about the legal implications of including BSD sources
into proprietary software, as you have to keep the "list of conditions" intact,
which would include the permission for redistribution. I've heard conflicting
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the source.
:''According to my note above, I'd advise keeping the BSD licensed unit identifiable apart (as described below for LGPL'ed stuff), to avoid any misunderstandings as to the BSD License applying to the ''whole'' of your project, including the right to redistribute.''%%%-- MartinBaute
=== LGPL ===
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Now, if you worked on your project alone, nothing keeps you. (Except that
[
projects.)
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Let me repeat this: If you want to change the license of your project
* from GPL to anything else,
* from LGPL to anything else but GPL,
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