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Re: DFSG as License?



Michelle Konzack <linux4michelle@freenet.de>
>Since I have read tonns of different licences I do not realy know
>what to do.  Since I am using Debian/main only (with the exception
>of libdvdcss2) since more then 7 years now I want to say, that my
>Software any Licence which comply with the DFSG.

Since we can't agree, even on debian-legal, on whether some licenses comply with
the DFSG or not, this really can't be done.  :-/  But I can tell you what license
you should use: there are two you should consider.

--
If you want a "copyleft" license -- that is, everyone who makes additions to your
software has to license their additions freely -- use the GNU GPL.

See http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-howto.html for details on how to do that.

--
If you want a "non-copyleft" license -- that is, people who make additions to 
your software can license their additions however they like, perhaps charging a 
fee for them -- then use the MIT/Expat license.  For that, you have to include 
the copyright notice, just as described on the above page about using the GNU 
GPL.  After the copyright notice you put the license text. For some reason I have 
been unable to find a canonical website devoted to this license, so here is the text:

  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of 
  this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the 
  Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, 
  copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the 
  Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, 
  subject to the following conditions:
 
  The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all 
  copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 
  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR 
  IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS 
  FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR 
  COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN 
  AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION 
  WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.


If you have more specific requirements, you may want another license,
but generally these are the two we recommend here on debian-legal.  MIT/Expat is
the simplest, best-understood, and easiest to apply of the non-copyleft licenses.
The GNU GPL is the most widely used and most well understood copyleft license.

-- 
Nathanael Nerode  <neroden@fastmail.fm>

A thousand reasons. http://www.thousandreasons.org/
Lies, theft, war, kidnapping, torture, rape, murder...
Get me out of this fascist nightmare!



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