3 ms·

The GPL family of licenses were written under legal counselling of actual lawyers. They are, however, first and foremost an US product, written to be enforced u

by j1elo 3y ago

The GPL family of licenses were written under legal counselling of actual lawyers. They are, however, first and foremost an US product, written to be enforced under US laws. It is no surprise that other countries have different legal systems under which the terms of a software license can be difficult to apply. (Edit: This comment puts it very well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37291970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37291970) For a license similar to AGPL but written with the whole European Union legal frameworks in mind, I'd suggest having a look at The European Union Public Licence (EUPL): * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Public_Licence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Public_Licence * https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/eupl/eupl-guidelines-faq-infographics https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/eupl/eupl-guidelines-... I am european, so I was considering using the EUPL for a new open source project that I'm planning. I'd love to get some comments from HN readers, regarding that choice.

teddyh 3y ago
The GPLv3 and associated v3 licenses were all carefully written to be applicable internationally. Using a Europe-specific license is as bad as using a U.S.-specific GPLv2.
elkos 3y ago
last time i checked several courts in EU tried and enforced the GPLv3 but I might be wrong
patemmschmitz 3y ago
It is a constant policy, from all "FSF-followers-free-software-activists" to try to discourage, on all public discussion forums, the use of the EUPL that is a copyleft license "other than GPL/AGPL". However, the referenced EUPL guidelines explain in full detail why using it is not "bad" or "wrong". The EUPL licence is 3 times shorter than the GPLv3, clearer, multilingual, interoperable and compatible with the GPLs/AGPL. The FSF "strong copyleft theory" that linking propagates the GPL license was not (and will never be) validated by EU courts.

by j1elo 3y ago

teddyh 3y ago

The GPLv3 and associated v3 licenses were all carefully written to be applicable internationally. Using a Europe-specific license is as bad as using a U.S.-specific GPLv2.

elkos 3y ago

last time i checked several courts in EU tried and enforced the GPLv3 but I might be wrong

patemmschmitz 3y ago

It is a constant policy, from all "FSF-followers-free-software-activists" to try to discourage, on all public discussion forums, the use of the EUPL that is a copyleft license "other than GPL/AGPL". However, the referenced EUPL guidelines explain in full detail why using it is not "bad" or "wrong". The EUPL licence is 3 times shorter than the GPLv3, clearer, multilingual, interoperable and compatible with the GPLs/AGPL. The FSF "strong copyleft theory" that linking propagates the GPL license was not (and will never be) validated by EU courts.