Z

Sat, 29 May 2021 10:03:59 -0700

#FreeSoftware without a Licence is not free! Your code is only useful, if other developers know that they can safely use it, without risking lawsuits.

If you are on #Codeberg, please check that your content is licenced under an OSI / FSF approved licence.

Thank you for caring about #FOSS.

David Sugar

Sat, 29 May 2021 15:00:03 -0700

@Codeberg.org whatever ones specific license choice is, understanding how to convey it is indeed essential. The absence of a license is not public domain but rather everything is "born" with maximum copyright restrictions by default unless otherwise stated, at least in Bern convention countries, and also public domain means a work can be proprietarized by anyone so is often a poor choice for foss.

Zap

Sat, 29 May 2021 18:09:20 -0700

Doesn't really matter what license you use (even "none"). It can still be proprietarized (is that a word?) by anyone.

Having worked in the industry and developed open source since before Stallman and Gosling had their little spat that led to the creation of the GPL; and watched the resultant civil war in the software development world (which is going on 40 years of open conflict) I am not at all ignorant about the nuances of open source licenses.

Google has complied with the requirements of the GNU General Public License for Linux, but the Apache license on the rest of Android does not require source release. Google said it would never publish the source code of Android 3.0 (aside from Linux). Android 3.1 source code was also withheld, making Android 3, apart from Linux, nonfree software pure and simple.
-- Richard Stallman

If we want open source software, we'll just take it.
-- Steve Ballmer

We use the Unlicense. The reason we do so is because many corporate lawyers consider it ambiguous (because of those Bern convention countries) and won't touch it with a ten foot pole. Yet it is in the public domain in countries that recognise the validity of public domain and open source using an OSI approved open source license.

We wish to take advantage of those particular nuances. You are free to make your own choices.

a Claes unto himself 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛

Sat, 29 May 2021 19:04:25 -0700

ðŸ” Repeated @Codeberg.org's Note