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> I just use the MIT license. That's good, but there other options too that are practically similar to MIT. Most notably, the APL (Apache Public License), MPL
by rms_returns 11y ago
> I just use the MIT license.
That's good, but there other options too that are practically similar to MIT. Most notably, the APL (Apache Public License), MPL (Mozilla Public License) and even the old BSD public license. They just differ in legal gobbledegook in their content, but essentially, you can pick and use any software under these terms and you can use/modify them in whatever manner with a peace of mind!
APL more explicitly/specifically transfers the legal rights to the user of the software through the legal wordings used. In this manner, APL is an improvement over the MIT, which in turn, is an improvement over good old BSD license. Even BSD license intended to do the same thing, but it appears that the modern law prefers every intention to be explicitly stated, rather than leaving room for assumption/derivation of that intent.
- nirvdrum 11y agoIs the Apache Public License different from the Apache License? I can't find any reference of the former and I've always seen the latter shortened to ASL or ASLv2. Apologies if this comes across as a passive aggressive correction -- I'm really curious if they're different things.
- rms_returns 11y agoYou are right, I stand corrected! APL refers more to the collection of Apache licenses by the OSI: http://opensource.org/licenses/apachepl.php http://opensource.org/licenses/apachepl.php The particular license is just "Apache License" or ASL, in fact.
- nirvdrum 11y agoThanks for the link. I hadn't seen that page before, nor the proper noun "Apache Public Licenses." I guess we both learned something :-)
- yoklov 11y agoMPL is pretty different IIRC. Must open source modified files, or something along those lines
- dtech 11y agoYes, in addition you can statically link MPL code, which you can't do with LGPL. One-sentence summary: MIT: Do whatever you want BSD: Do whatever you want, don't use our name APL: Do whatever you want, don't sue us for patents MPL: Do whatever you want, as long as you release modifications to the original source files LGPL: You can use this as long as you publish changes to the library and dynamically link it in software with a non-(L)GPL license. GPL: Any source code connected to this to this code must also be GPL.
- rms_returns 11y agoYes, pretty apt summary of what each license does.
- __david__ 11y ago> LGPL: You can use this as long as you publish changes to the library and dynamically* link it in software with a non-(L)GPL license. * or, crazily enough, provide an object file or files that you can re-statically link against the LGPLed source.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]