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Open Source License Comparison

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the compare-and-contrast dept.

rbb writes "Bryce Wilcox-O'Hearn, aka Zooko, has put together a simple chart that in just a few lines displays the characteristics of each of the most popular Open Source licenses. The table, which is currently in version 0.8.3, makes it easy to see in a glance how the licenses compare to one another." Easily digestible information - good for PHB [?] s.

11 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. In other news... by bonzoesc · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bill Gates prepared a chart of how much money his closed-source license has made him, N*Sync prepared a chart of how much money their CD sales have earned, and an unnamed open-source programmer made a sign that says "will prepare charts for food."

  2. Quote from the article ... by doctor_oktagon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Apparently the only way to be safe against the accusation of having given "legal advice" is to write with such ambiguity and obfuscation that nobody can learn anything from what you've written

    Well from my experience the more complicated it looks, the more like legal advice it becomes!

    And judging from the wars on this site, most of us write like this anyway :P

  3. Please help make it better -- don't just flame. by Zooko · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hi folks. The License Quick Ref is definitely a work in progress. I am no lawyer and there are a lot of question marks and probably a lot of inaccuracies or other bugs.

    Please e-mail <zooko@zooko.com> with suggestions for improvement. Thanks!

    If you send me flames, I may elect to post them to my web log. :-)

    http://zooko.com/.

    Regards,

    Zooko

  4. Falls between two stools by Rogerborg · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Kudos to Zooko for producing this, but I have to point out that if you didn't already know this stuff, you're not going to learn much of anything useful here because there's not enough basic introduction, and if you did already know it, you're not going to learn much of anything useful here, because there's not enough detail.

    And what on earth is the point in posting your opinion on legal issues, then disclaiming that opinion as being worthless? Again, no disrespect to Zooko, but his opinion isn't worth any more than mine or yours.

    Let's keep pressing for IAAL advice, or better yet, get some of these licenses tested in court, proactively and preemptively if necessary. I'd happily help fund a FSF case to have a declaratory decision made on the validity and limitations of the GPL.

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  5. good for PHB? by geo-geo · · Score: 3, Funny

    You know, I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons for over 15 years and I can tell you the Player's Hand Book is confusing enough will all it's charts and tables. Added this chart will just frustrate DMs like myself when the players say "Look, that Dragon falls under the GNU GPL so it must share it's source of wealth!!"

  6. Okay then...let me ask you a question by StressGuy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You seem to have a strong opinion in favor of the GPL and, from what I can determine, it looks like a fantastic concept that is applicable to more than just computer code. However, I am somewhat inexperienced with open licenses and have a few questions as I consider publishing software that I am currently developing. Short story is as follows, the program I'm working on is being coded in Python (latest GPL OK version). It is designed for accessing damage and/or fatigue life for aging commercial aircraft. The math engine is developed by myself and I'd like to make it available to other experts in the field so that it can grow. I would also like input from experienced programmers since I am self taught (this is in fact my first Python program). On the other hand, I need to keep that math model under tight control. I am concerned that someone who is a good programmer but not experienced in aircraft fatigue my modify the math engine in such a way as to make it unsafe for use. Can the GPL protect from this scenario?

    --
    A goal is a dream with a deadline
  7. Re:The Condensed Version... by why-is-it · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...kind of like all those people who were protesting nuclear weapons in the U.S. while the U.S.S.R. was unashamedly preparing to destroy the West.

    Exactly when did the Soviets destroy the West? I must have missed that.
    I guess all their preparations were for nothing...

    --
    *** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?
  8. GPL encumbering clause by Proud+Geek · · Score: 3, Informative
    From the GPL v2:
    "If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program."
    From what I understand, this means that although the GPL does not require you to contribute patents, if there are any patents that would encumber free distribution of the code or derivative works, you are not allowed to distribute the code. The effect is very similar to requiring a patent license, in that you can not enforce patents of your own against GPL'd works that you have distributed, nor distribute GPL'd works where redistribution would be encumbered by third-party patents.
    --

    Even Slashdot wants to hide some things

  9. Re:Free as in **? by Hobbex · · Score: 3, Informative


    It's used to differentiate between the very strange english homonym for "without price" and "having freedom" (and the other 17 meanings .

    If you get "free beer" that would imply that you got without cost, not that beer was liberated from servitude. So if something is "free as in beer", then it has no cost.

    OTOH if have "free speech" that you have freedom to speak as you will, not that you don't have to put a coin in the slot every time you feel like talking.

    IANAL (l=linguist) but to me English seems to be pretty alone in having this confusion, as most European languages seem to use words derived from latin gratis for no cost (cf 'gratitude') and liber for freedom (cf 'liberated').
    Maybe says something about the cultural mentality...

  10. Re:Free as in **? by FatOldGoth · · Score: 3, Flamebait
    • GPL -- Free as in speech/li>
    • BSD -- Free as in enterprise
    • Shared Source -- Free as in "Work Will Make You".
    --

    I would be a paid subscriber if Taco and Hemos weren't such cunts
  11. interactive version by Zooko · · Score: 3, Informative

    Check this out:

    Peter Lowe has written an interactive version of the License Quick Ref which shows you the table in a way that reflects your own biases. Ha!

    http://yoyo.org/~pgl/lqr/

    Regards,

    Zooko

    P.S. Despite my fears of massive slashdot flamage, there has actually been pretty much no flames, except for one from a certain unnamed Linux world journalist. Maybe the community is growing up! After all, Linux itself is 10 years old, so the first generation of Linux hackers are now in their late 20's at least.