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The Universal Donor (Open Source Licensing)

posted by martyb on Thursday January 18 2018, @02:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the waiting-for-the-multiverse-donor dept.

canopic jug writes:

Over at the Meshed Insights blog, Simon Phipps writes about why the public domain falls short and more detailed licensing is needed in order to extend rights to a software community.

Yes, public domain may give you the rights you need. But in an open source project, it's not enough for you to determine you personally have the rights you need. In order to function, every user and contributor of the project needs prior confidence they can use, improve and share the code, regardless of their location or the use to which they put it. That confidence also has to extend to their colleagues, customers and community as well.

Source : The Universal Donor

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  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday January 18 2018, @10:07PM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday January 18 2018, @10:07PM (#624428) Journal

    You, and the other proponents of the *BSD license because "MUH FREEDUMBZ" are missing an important point, one I've cribbed from a close friend but came up with myself too: the fewest restrictions up-front does not necessarily equal the most freedom for all.

    Basically, imagine it like this: you have two playgrounds. One of them has no rules imposed by the adults. The other has a set of rules specifically intended to keep the kids from hurting one another. They're allowed to play how they wish but they don't get to, for example, play "everyone gang up on one kid and beat the tar out of him/her."

    Which one do you think, over time, will be the one kids enjoy playing in more?

    When you understand this, you'll understand why the GPL is important. The BSD license has its place, but it's a rather r-type strategy and not one guaranteed to pay dividends for humanity in general in the long run.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
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