Which License Should I Use?

[mojosam]

I've been watching the flame war about licenses with some interest.
There are many motivations for those who participate in this sector, so
disagreements over licenses reflect those agendas.

I don't have an agenda, at least not right now. I do plan on writing a
few programs.

These will be tools I need for firmware testing. They will be
relatively simple things like tools for breaking down data by its
structure for easy viewing, sending commands/macros over serial ports,
etc. Similar things exist, but they don't do everything I need. These
will also be excellent learning opportunities for me, since I'm still
pretty shaky on Python.

How do I decide on a license? Are there any web sites that summarize
the pros and cons? I guess I don't care too much about how other
people use it. These things won't be comprehensive enough or have
broad enough appeal that somebody will slap a new coat of paint on them
and try to sell them. I guess I don't care if somebody incorporates
them into something bigger. If somebody were to add features to them,
it would be nice to get the code and keep the derivative work as open
source, but I don't think that matters all that much to me. If
somebody can add value and find a way of making money at it, I don't
think I'd be too upset.

I will be doing the bulk of the coding on my own time, because I need
to be able to take these tools with me when I change employers.
However, I'm sure that in the course of using these tools, I will need
to spend time on the job debugging or tweaking them. I do not want my
current employer to have any claim on my code in any way. Usually if
you program on company time, that makes what you do a "work for hire".
I can't contaminate my code like that. Does that mean the GPL is the
strongest defense in this situation?

I'm open to suggestions as to which licenses to consider. However,
please try to keep the conversation to the decision process or what
sounds like it is best for this purpose. Let's keep the broader issue
of which license will bring about the fall of Western Civilization on
the other thread.

Ron Britton

(The gibberish on the next line really is my email address.)
nk67v8o02
at
sneakemail.com

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:04:50 -0800, Paul Rubin wrote:

Please note that merely putting the code under a GPL or other OSS licence
is NOT sufficient -- they must agree to let you DISTRIBUTE the code.

If it's under the GPL, they're not allowed to prevent you from
distributing it, if you have a copy.

Only if the copy is licenced to you by the copyright owner under the GPL
in the first place. You can't just take source code you have no rights to,
or some other set of rights, stick the GPL on it without the copyright
owner's permission, and then legally distribute it.
--
Steven.

[Chris Mellon]

On 11/30/05, Robert Kern <ro*********@gmail.com> wrote:

Paul Boddie wrote:

Paul Rubin wrote:

That is the guy who claims it is impossible to release anything into
the public domain, other than by dying and then waiting 70 years.
Is that an indirect reference to the following article?

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6225

Among other places where Rosen has said it, like his book.

In fairness, when on the one hand a lawyer (or 2, in this case) who
specializes in IP law tell you that something is uncertain, and on the
other hand, a non-lawyer (but certainly a smart guy) dismisses the
whole thing as stupid, I kinda tend toward listening to the lawyer.
Especially as, if you carefully read what is and isn't said, DJB
doesn't actually contradict Rosen or Lessig - he says that "as far as
he knows nobody has ever bothered the court with it", which is one way
of telling he's not a lawyer - a lawyer would say (as Lessig does in
his blog post) that there have been no test cases but his analysis of
the law is that there are inconsistencies and that were such a case to
occur, he is not sure who who would prevail. I'm not a legal expert or
a lawyer. But I certainly find Rosens detailed and well-explained
analysis of the situation to be much more convincing than Dans
hand-waving.
--
Robert Kern
ro*********@gmail.com

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
-- Richard Harter

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