There are two main classes of license you should consider when you can set the licenseing for a piece of software: GPL[1] or BSD[2]. (the debian-legal list frequently suggests zlib and mit licenses as other alternatives for permissive licenses if you don't like BSD for some reason)
GPL vs BSD is a flamewar on par with vi vs emacs--or put another way, it's a personal decision like preference for text editor is. For your own code it comes down to your own preferences for what happens to the code when others create derivative works: GPL is written to preserve everyone's right to get the source for derivatives, while BSD is written to preserve the most rights for those who receive the source (including the right to withhold their own derivatives from others). (when it comes to contributing to an established project, of course, your only choice is to contribute in compliance with the terms of the established license; this isn't the case at hand) IMO, the single worst thing you can do is try to draft your own license. debian-legal frequently finds that this or that well- intentioned phrase is hard to reconcile with their "free software guidelines"[3]. Software that is heavily dependent on a windows-only commercial program won't become a part of debian anytime soon, but the guidelines do a good job of capturing what is important to me about Free software while encompassing many distinct licenses. Jeff [1] http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html [2] http://www.debian.org/misc/bsd.license [3] http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Register Now for Creativity and Technology (CaT), June 3rd, NYC. CaT is a gathering of tech-side developers & brand creativity professionals. Meet the minds behind Google Creative Lab, Visual Complexity, Processing, & iPhoneDevCamp as they present alongside digital heavyweights like Barbarian Group, R/GA, & Big Spaceship. http://p.sf.net/sfu/creativitycat-com _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
