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What's wrong with the licensing?
by nickysielicki 12y ago
What's wrong with the licensing?
- forrestthewoods 12y ago"If you publicly use any adapted version of this database, or works produced from an adapted database, you must also offer that adapted database under the ODbL." It's basically a GPL vs MIT issue. A lot of people think GPL is better for great reasons. A lot of people think MIT is better for great reasons. I fall in the latter camp. http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/summary/ http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/summary/
- nickysielicki 12y agoI was going to write that I thought it was silly to convolute software licensing with data licensing, but I can't really find any fundamental difference between them.
- ForHackernews 12y agoAll that does is prevent Google from slurping OSM into Google Maps and not giving anything back. I don't see how it prevents it from being "usable and useful". If anything, it makes it more useful because if everyone contributes to OSM, it means we're not constantly reduplicating effort.
- forrestthewoods 12y agoLike I said, it's the same debate as GPL vs MIT which has been had on the Internet a million times.
- psykovsky 12y agoSymbiotic vs Parasitic describes it better.
- forrestthewoods 12y agoA million and one.
- beering 12y agoA more damning criticism of OSM licensing is that it's incomprehensible. Let's say you want to create something based on OSM data. Do you have to make your creation available under the ODbl? You can subscribe to the legal talk list if you want to see a parade of people trying to figure out how it works. More practical is to just armchair-lawyer the terms and just hope that nobody gets upset with you.