Questions tagged [licensing]
Licensing refers to applying a license to an area of software. Only use this tag if your question concerns the application of a license to an area of interest. If your question concerns a specific license, use the tag that corresponds to your license. For more general questions, use this tag.
1,273
questions
175
votes
2
answers
90k
views
What can I assume if a publicly published project has no license?
There is some code on GitHub that I would like to use. The repository has no public declaration of license that I can find. But this particular project has over 200 forks and is a pretty active ...
- 1,853
127
votes
5
answers
18k
views
How can a "crayon" license be a problem?
Bruce Perens (co-founder of OSI) has coined the term "crayon license":
I've been calling these "crayon licenses", taking a line from an old Monty Python sketch about a dog license ...
- 9,035
94
votes
5
answers
14k
views
How can a project be relicensed?
I've found out that the license I picked for my project does not quite do what I wanted it do (bad research).
Now I want to change the license. Is it as simple as changing the LICENSE.txt in the root?...
- 2,238
88
votes
2
answers
18k
views
Why is CC BY-SA discouraged for code?
Everybody knows that you shouldn't use a CC BY-SA license on your code. Even the Creative Commons folk recommend against it. What I don't know or understand is why. I can't seem to find any ...
- 5,348
69
votes
5
answers
42k
views
Is Microsoft VS Code really open source?
I have been using MS VS Code since a while now and I am I really loving it.
Although the other day I was having a discussion regarding editors with my mentor where he pointed to me this.
It's ...
- 801
66
votes
4
answers
18k
views
Can I license my project with an open-source license but disallow commercial use?
I'd like to make my project open-source. Is there a free/open-source license that lets me do that, but disallows anyone receiving my project to use it for commercial purposes or monetary gain?
In a ...
- 9,278
54
votes
3
answers
82k
views
Open-source license to prevent commercial use? [duplicate]
I could really use some help picking the right license for my project. The project is already released on github under the GPLv3 license but I have been made aware that this prevents uses that I want ...
- 659
51
votes
5
answers
9k
views
Can there be a copyright on negative code?
This is a hypothetical question, but I am curious. Feel free to ignore it, when it seems too theoretical for you.
Some people may know the situation that you implement a feature and in the end you ...
- 752
40
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Can I "Override" a licensing policy?
On many sites, especially Stack Overflow, I can't help but notice such amazing code snippets. However, they come with a "catch" designed by the author.
With user contributions being licensed with the ...
- 6,389
40
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How could using code released under CC0 infringe on the author's patents?
Creative Commons defines a CC0 license type (here's the full legal code) that claims to allow creators to release their works into the public domain by waiving "all their copyright and related rights ...
- 545
39
votes
3
answers
30k
views
What's the difference between Copyright and Licensing?
Preamble
There are two other questions, specifically related to Licensing and Copyright.
In reviewing the answers and comments, I get the feeling that people generally consider the two to be the ...
- 6,907
38
votes
2
answers
19k
views
MIT license and "All rights reserved."?
I recently saw something like this:
Copyright (c) Some Corporation
All rights reserved.
MIT License
...
And then the MIT license follows. Now, from what I know the MIT license is one of the most ...
- 651
36
votes
3
answers
22k
views
If I'm using a GPL 3 library in my project, can I license my project under MIT license?
If I'm using a library that is licensed under GPL v3 in my project, can I license my project under the MIT license? I tried to read the GPL v3 text but I cannot understand it without your assistance.
- 463
34
votes
11
answers
11k
views
Is there a generally accepted "anti-copyleft" clause or license?
I would like to publish code for an application under an open source license like BSD, MIT, or Apache 2 which allows for changes and derivative works to be contributed back to the open source project ...
- 517
33
votes
2
answers
31k
views
Is Docker still free and open source?
Docker recently introduced the Moby project, which Docker is now based on, and which is free software (Apache 2.0). But the instructions to install Docker CE don't mention Moby at all, and they don't ...
- 443
32
votes
2
answers
19k
views
What exactly is Tivoization and why didn't Linus Torvalds like it in GPLv3?
I still don't understand what Tivoization is and why Linus Torvalds did not like it. Can you explain to me the big idea of Tivoization?
- 515
32
votes
2
answers
27k
views
What is the point of including the MIT copyright text if you use someone's code licensed under MIT?
I'm confused as to what this license really means.
Say I have a large piece of software I plan on selling and keeping closed source. It makes use of several small resources that are under the MIT ...
- 423
32
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Copyright and Contributing to an Open Source Project
I'm a little confused by copyright notices on open source projects.
Let's say that a particular project is covered by a very permissive license, such as MIT or BSD. A copyright notice appears from ...
- 435
31
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Do I really need to include a licence file for common licences like GPL or MIT?
The GPL3, for example, says:
Conveying Verbatim Copies.
You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and ...
- 7,728
30
votes
4
answers
15k
views
Am I legally required to provide a (GPL licensed) source code even after a project is abandoned?
I plan to develop an application using an easy to use GPLv2 licensed libraries. Once my app is complete I plan to distribute it free and open source complying with GPLv2 copyleft requirements. The ...
- 1,205
29
votes
3
answers
4k
views
When folks send me pull-requests on GitHub, what are their copyright/licensing terms by default?
Say I'm maintaining a GPLv3 project on GitHub with a LICENSE file, code headers and all. Now, a few folks made some code enhancements and sent me a pull-request. Does that automatically mean that they ...
- 995
28
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Are licenses irrevocable by default?
I've noticed that some FOSS licenses explicitly mention that they are irrevocable (as long as their conditions are met) and others are silent on this point. Does this matter? Are the licenses that don'...
- 8,819
27
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Can you withdraw the license on an open source project so that even those who already have it can no longer use it?
I have just read this post in the KDE-mailinglist and then i wonder (generally):
If someone has released his software under the terms of (for example) GPL or LGPL or something similar, can he ...
- 389
27
votes
4
answers
1k
views
What happens if I share code online without any licence declaration?
What will the licence of the code be? If this is jurisdiction / country based what is relevant in this case? The place of origin of the poster, the host where the code lives, or the one who tries to ...
- 765
27
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Do I have to offer the source of an AGPL (v3.0) licensed Web app even if I didn’t modify it?
The point of using the GNU Affero General Public License (Version 3) is that it allows "users who interact with the licensed software over a network to receive the source for that program" (FSF).
...
- 5,520
27
votes
4
answers
3k
views
License for code snippets?
I share small snippets of code with friends, and would like to post them online for others to use.
I'm not sure of the best license?
I was thinking MIT, but it includes this clause:
The above ...
- 2,889
27
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Ramifications of the proposed new SE licensing model
Like many other people I read this meta post. Since I don't really understand what is at stake I became confused and worried.
Does this mean that I can legally force any organization to let me see ...
- 381
26
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Why are open-source PDF APIs so hard to come by?
PDFs are inescapable, what surprises me is the lack of open-source tools available for interacting with them via some sort of API. One example which sticks in my mind was when I was using .NET to ...
- 371
26
votes
1
answer
6k
views
How much is "substantial portion" in MIT licence?
MIT license says:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
How much is that substantial portion?
For ...
- 445
25
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How to deal with licences after forking a project?
I forked a project with an MIT license on GitHub:
The MIT License (MIT)
Copyright (c) 2012 Some Name
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software ...
- 353
24
votes
1
answer
25k
views
Pros and Cons of using MPL-2.0 license?
I want to license my project (hosted on GitHub) under MPL-2.0, which looks like a reasonable choice. But since I'm not a lawyer, it's hard to estimate long-term benefits and consequences of this ...
- 425
23
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Can someone re-license my BSD-3-licensed project under the MIT license, remove my copyright notices, and list me as a "collaborator" without consent
I maintain an open source numerical computing library. I license my project under BSD-3. Another developer has copied 90% of the source code to a new project with the same name, while changing the ...
- 349
23
votes
2
answers
547
views
Is OSI approval important for a license?
I've heard an open source license described as "popular and OSI-approved". To that, someone asks:
Is OSI approval important?
which is a great — and important — question in its own right. So, is ...
- 662
23
votes
1
answer
48k
views
Can I use a Apache v2 licensed driver for a commercial project without revealing sources of the project?
I am building a project that will be commercialised. One of the library I use is licensed under Apache v2.
To my understanding, if I modify the library, I need to give the source of the library with ...
- 395
22
votes
5
answers
8k
views
GPLv3 forces us to make code available, but to whom?
I've read that GPLv3 imposes that we should make the source code of our app available.
But, available to whom?
In case we sell our GPLv3 software, does it mean we have to make it available to those ...
- 397
22
votes
1
answer
7k
views
How to avoid being AWSed?
Elastic built the tool, AWS redistributed it and is dominating the market. Elastic is probably going to struggle and slowly die because they are bad at business. However, they built a great tool and ...
- 323
22
votes
1
answer
6k
views
SSPL and the Open Source Definition
MongoDB has decided to change the licensing of MongoDB Community Server, seemingly to prevent businesses from monetizing on their product without giving anything back: https://www.mongodb.com/press/...
- 2,406
22
votes
3
answers
510
views
For what reasons should you make the user agree to a FOSS licence during installation?
Most Windows installers for FOSS software make the user agree to the licence during installation: there'll be a page where the text is shown and a little tick box, you must have seen it before.
But ...
- 7,728
22
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Does being open sourced mean others can use my logo?
Suppose
I have created an open source application
I have also created a snazzy logo to go with the application (for example, the Eclipse logo)
I released my application's source code under a ...
- 6,907
22
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Difference between MongoDB SSPL and GNU AGPL
I'm trying to understand the difference between the SSPL and the GNU AGPL license, after reading the terms of SSPL.
The 13th clause of the license states the following:
If you make the ...
- 358
22
votes
1
answer
9k
views
Using GPL library with MIT licensed code
Let's say I created a project containing hundreds of source files under the MIT License (most of which I wrote myself for this project). Now I want to add a GPL library to the project, that will be ...
- 323
21
votes
5
answers
4k
views
How can I forbid shady resale practices?
From time to time, I come across a website that is clearly selling my MIT-licensed, FOSS project verbatim to unsuspecting buyers under an alternative name. Of course, they do not acknowledge the fact ...
- 857
21
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Contributor asking to remove their contributions
I have a project licensed under the LGPL-3.0. A major contributor recently stopped contributing, and is now requesting all their contributions to be removed from the project. All the code in the ...
- 365
21
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Can I restrict who can utilize my software?
Can a project be licensed as "open source", yet place a restriction on who can utilize the software?
For example, if my software falls under software export controls, can I continue to license it as "...
- 728
21
votes
2
answers
347
views
Will a dual license lock me in to a provider?
I want to use open source software for my business, and it is dual licensed. If I choose the paid license which provides support for any changes we require, will this mean that we are unable to change ...
20
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Is my code FLOSS just because it is published it on GitHub?
Does publishing my code on GitHub make it FLOSS automatically? Is there some license automatically assigned to it? Is it "technically or say literally, open source"?
user490
20
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Can I create my own license by modifying an existing one?
I'm taking the following Stack Overflow question and its answers into consideration: Can you create your one software license?
My question here however is not creating a completely new license from ...
- 2,887
20
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Why shouldn't Creative Commons licenses be used for software? [duplicate]
Suppose I was finishing up an open source software. I needed to license it under an open source license.
My question:
Why would I not want to license my software under a Creative Commons license?
...
- 5,850
20
votes
3
answers
11k
views
AGPLv3 source redistribution: when does it apply to my code for a server-side Java app using an AGPL-licensed library?
I have written a Java program designed to run server-side with a plain HTML web interface:
My app is based based on Apache Tomcat and I wrote a bunch of servlets.
I am reusing and I have integrated ...
- 14.3k
20
votes
1
answer
696
views
What are the licensing terms of the text of the GPL?
The text of the GPLv3 starts with the following disclaimer:
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is not allowed.
What does this ...
- 11.1k