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SFLC's Legal Guide On Free Software

Posted by kdawson on from the law-for-the-rest-of-us dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Last week the Software Freedom Law Center published A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects. The primer, written for developers, has sections on copyrights, trademarks, patents, and organizational structure. Linux-Watch has reviewed the guide, saying 'I think any open-source developer or open-source group administrator must read this paper.'"

2 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The Primer is nice and all... by palegray.net · · Score: 3, Interesting

    But, legally speaking, you should read the license you pick. Funny thing about that; I've long been in the habit of reading things before I agree to them, or before distributing someone's code. That said, it's kinda surprising how many GPL violations keep popping up.
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  2. Exactly what I was expecting by Secret+Rabbit · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was expecting to read a biased view toward the GPL, etc. Went straight to the BSD(-style) section and it's exactly what I found. Not about what the BSD(-style) licenses do/do not permit, but a commentary about what features of the GPL aren't in the BSD and how that's "good" "according to some people."

    Gotta say that I've read a lot about licenses, etc and have yet to see one that isn't biased in one direction or another. And this is certainly no exception. I'd just love to see a commentary that keeps people's fucking politics out of it.