Which licence to release code under?

Cheetah Designs · 10 Jul 2011 at 23:40

I have some open source code I want to release but I don't want to read through a load of licenses, so for those that already know them, I want one which have the following:

- they can use it for whatever they want in whatever software they want
- copyright/license must remain intact on the source code

and if possible:

- any copyright/release notes must include my license/copyright

Thanks.

JIM_BOB7813 · 11 Jul 2011 at 09:57

Apache License covers all of those points. (except the last, they must place the apache license in the NOTICE, but I'm not sure about your copyright statement)

Apache means anyone can re-release your code (or modified) without releasing the source code (you didn't specify though)

You should really read through the licenses, wikipedia is a good start.

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html

Most popular are probably GPL, apache, MIT, BSD, LGPL.

leezer3 · 11 Jul 2011 at 11:10

Probably want the AGPL.
That's basically the GPL with clauses to ensure you are credited unless (IIRC) 80% of your code is changed.

I'd probably stick with the plain GPL though, just for the wider recognition.

-Leezer-

Deleted member 77746 · 11 Jul 2011 at 11:33

SoapSurgeon · 13 Jul 2011 at 09:20

GPL can be considered 'viral' in that if I wanted to use your code as part of my work I would have to also release my work as GPL.

A more permissive licence is MIT which lets them do pretty much anything with it, AFAIK.

Cheetah Designs · 19 Jul 2011 at 23:21

Just remembered, I used someone elses code in my software which has the following licence:

Copyright (c) 2010 Someones name

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished
to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT
HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

What do I have to do to adhere to this licence? When I upload my code so I simply append the licence to the top of all the classes that are from this licensed software?

Do I have to include anything with my actual software itself?

Xelene · 19 Jul 2011 at 23:36

Some BSD derivative. LGPL infects everything it touches.

uniQ · 20 Jul 2011 at 09:50

Second the BSD License do a search for SMF License they now use a BSD License for there forum software which would probably be very similar to what you stated you wanted in the OP.