72
votes
Accepted
Under copyleft, why distinguish between "free as in free speech" and "free as in free beer"?
You've noticed that if a piece of software is "free as in speech," it will probably become "free as in beer" too. That's completely true.
The important thing, however, is that the ...
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46
votes
Accepted
So the GPL doesn't restrict the creator of the software in any way?
Putting software under the GPL does not mean abandoning ownership?
Absolutely not. In nations signatory to the Berne Convention, copyright is the default, which means by default only the author (or ...
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43
votes
Can I publish a GPL source I'm being paid for to develop?
So it seems that you're doing this as a piece of contract work, not under employment rules, so the issue of work-for-hire probably doesn't enter into it.
The rules about what you can publish and when ...
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38
votes
Is there a generally accepted "anti-copyleft" clause or license?
To my knowledge there is no such license. Note that this license may not be considered an open-source license. In no case would such a license be a permissive license that could be compatible with MIT ...
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37
votes
Accepted
Is there a generally accepted "anti-copyleft" clause or license?
the code or derivative works can never be re-licensed under a GPL/Copyleft license
Ironically, I think the best practical strategy to accomplish this is to license your work under a (very weak) ...
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31
votes
Need samples of copyleft notices
You are confusing at least two concepts here. Looking at your list of suggestions:
"copyleft" is not a license itself, but a property of some licenses which means that any derivative works ...
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31
votes
Locking myself from ever changing license
You can't do anything within the constraints of copyright law as the copyright holder is never restricted by the license.
Practically if you accept contributions from a large number of contributors ...
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26
votes
Can I copy some AGPL code to my AGPL project?
Put simply: yes, this is allowed. The entire point of open source software is to allow it to be re-used.
Note that the requirements are slightly more than "citing the original source in a comment&...
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24
votes
Accepted
Do you violate the GPL if you provide source code that cannot be compiled?
IANAL, but I believe the answer is yes, you violate GPL. If you distribute binaries, then GPL requires that you also distribute all the files necessary to rebuild that same binary, and to make ...
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23
votes
I was told by a vendor who licenses their paid software under GPL v2 that I cannot include the software inside my framework. How so?
Assuming that the original work was distributed under the GNU GPLv2, and that you have made a work which is a derivative of it (in copyright terms), you may redistribute your derivative work subject ...
- 47k
23
votes
Can I publish a GPL source I'm being paid for to develop?
This depends on the contracts for this development effort. The GPLv3 explicitly covers the case that you are doing development exclusively for someone else, and this is OK (section 2, basic ...
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23
votes
Why it is not possible to create a proprietary fork of GPL?-or-later software?
You say "the copyright holder is the same entity" but this is true only for the changes introduced by the downstream distributor. There is also the upstream distributor who licensed their ...
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22
votes
Accepted
What are software dependencies, and what are the implications of FLOSS dependencies for other projects?
Software dependencies: A not-too-technical introduction
Summary
Programs depend on other programs, often with many deep levels of indirection.
Million of packaged FLOSS programs are available through ...
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21
votes
Accepted
Quoting GPL licensed text in presentation slides
The Berne Convention on copyright specifies the Right to Quote as an exception to copyright.
Article 10 (1) It shall be permissible to make quotations from a work which has already been lawfully made ...
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20
votes
Using an unmodified GPL library in non-copyleft code
As a add-on answer to amend what @amon explained in his answer:
That is the point of releasing a library under GPL: Any program which wants to make use of it also needs to be distributed under terms ...
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19
votes
Accepted
What is copyleft?
Copyleft is actually a term coined by Richard Stallman (also called RMS) who is the pioneer of the Free Software Movement which ultimately resulted in today's world where people take using FOSS ...
- 995
19
votes
Is there a generally accepted "anti-copyleft" clause or license?
If you release your code under a permissive license, it is not possible for anyone to "relicense" it under a less permissive one like the GPL. By issuing a permissive license, you grant everyone the ...
19
votes
Can I copy some AGPL code to my AGPL project?
As Philip wrote: Yes, that's possible (subject to certain conditions, which I won't repeat here).
Do note, though, that this will make it harder for Bob to re-license his code with a different license ...
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18
votes
Locking myself from ever changing license
You may assign the copyright of your project to a trusted organization. While you, as the copyright holder, may change the license freely, transferring your rights to someone else removes that ability....
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17
votes
Is there a good license for a libertarian programmer who's against intellectual property?
Anyone may use the software for any purpose they choose ...
However, no one may place any type of restrictions on my software
Your basic problem is that these are self-contradictory aims. In the ...
- 47k
16
votes
"Pure Copyleft" Software Licenses? (with no additional restrictions)
I don't think you'll square this circle. You write
The problem I have with the GPLv3 and AGPL license is how they restrict the intermediate users, while the problem I have with the MIT license is ...
- 47k
14
votes
Are Copyleft and Share-Alike synonyms?
The terms "copyleft" and "ShareAlike" both refer to reciprocal licensing, in which downstream users receive the same rights to your changes that you received for the original work. But copyleft is a ...
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14
votes
Accepted
Does whole project need to be under GPLv3 when using a GPLv3 library
Yes: The GPL doesn't just extend to that particular component but to the entire program that includes GPL components.
So if you publish your app, you will have to publish your app as a whole under the ...
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14
votes
Under copyleft, why distinguish between "free as in free speech" and "free as in free beer"?
This is why most Open Source vendors sell service plans rather than software.
Yes, the nature of Open Source licenses would allow anyone to download and install the software for free, and to in turn ...
- 241
14
votes
Accepted
"Pure Copyleft" Software Licenses? (with no additional restrictions)
I think another answer has done a good job articulating some philosophical incompatibilities in your requirements. I won't retread those concerns, but I'll make a feasible suggestion that might come ...
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13
votes
Will adding a BY-SA image to a blog post make the entire post BY-SA?
The CC ShareAlike terms merely say that whenever you do make a derivative work of the image, distribution of that derivative work must be under ShareAlike (or CC-approved ShareAlike-compatible) terms. ...
- 35.6k
13
votes
Accepted
How does GPL differ from CC BY-NC-SA?
CC BY-NC-SA is a copyleft-style licence (the "SA" bit), but there exist many other copyleft licences besides CC BY-NC-SA. The GPL is pretty clear that selling GPL-covered code is ...
- 47k
12
votes
Accepted
If I use a public API endpoint that has its source code licensed under AGPL in my app, do I need to disclose my source?
Making calls to a public API
If there's a public API server that has it's source code licensed with AGPL, and if I make an app that uses these public endpoints in some part of it, ... is this ...
- 2,465
12
votes
Under copyleft, why distinguish between "free as in free speech" and "free as in free beer"?
Actually I think this rule is coming from the ages before internet was available for everyone. Like 29 years ago you could buy a few floppy disks with linux on it. And that the vendor could charge you ...
- 221
11
votes
Using copyleft licenses for non-programming purposes
...is it possible to apply the philosophy of GPL to non-software things...?
To answer this very narrowly, yes: the GPL itself can be applied to any creative work (writing, pictures, videos, etc.) ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible