In this article, we will briefly discuss copyright, but mainly focus on choosing a free license for a RAD framework. and for open-source products based on it. We will talk about the permissive license. Apache 2.0, what led us to it, and what decisions we faced during the process.
The process of choosing a license is quite labor-intensive, and it should be approached by someone who is well-read. If you do not possess a legal education, you are faced with an uncharted field of information about various free licenses. The main task is to establish a set of limiting criteria. During discussions and reflections with your team, you will be able to understand what you want to allow users of your product and what to prohibit. Once you have a description in hand, you need to compare it with existing licenses and highlight the one with the most matching points. It may sound simple, but in reality, even after discussions, questions remain.
First ā a link to , a useful site that we actively used. Pay special attention to the of licenses based on 13 main criteria. May English and patience be with you.
The agony of choice
Let's start with the general characteristics of licenses for . Free software implies exclusively a free license that does not restrict commercial and non-commercial distribution under a model of . Accordingly, releasing software under a free license online does not allow you to completely restrict its transfer, distribution, and sale by third parties, and you must be mentally prepared for this.
A free license gives the user the right to participate in reverse software development or modify it by any other means available. Most licenses do not allow renaming the product or making any manipulations that would alter the rights of the author and/or owner of the system.
The main questions that interested us about free licenses were:
- Changes made to the software must be documented and have no relation to the rights holder of the system?
- The name of the derivative software should not match the name of the copyright holder's software?
- Is it possible to change the license for any new versions to another, including a proprietary one?
Upon carefully reviewing the list of the most common licenses, we've selected a few that we examined in more detail. Potential licenses for were: GNU GPLv3, Apache 2.0, MIT, and MPL. MIT we almost immediately ruled out since it is a permissive non-copyleft license that allows the use, modification, and distribution of code in almost any manner. This option didn't suit us because we wanted the license to regulate the relationship between the copyright holder and the user. Most of the smaller projects on GitHub are indeed published under the MIT license or its various variations. The license itself is very short, and the only restriction is the attribution to the original author of the software.
Next was the license MPL 2.0. Admittedly, we didn't come to it right away, but after studying it more closely, we quickly ruled it out since its main drawback is that the license applies not to the entire project but to individual files. Additionally, if a user modifies a file, they cannot change the license. In fact, no matter how diligently you modify an open-source project, you won't be able to monetize it due to such a license. This, by the way, does not concern the copyright holder.
A similar problem exists with the license GNU GPLv3. It requires that any file remains under it. GNU GPL is a copyleft license that mandates that the source codes of derivative works must be open and remain under the same license. That is, if you rewrite two lines of code, you will be obliged to document your changes and, when further using or distributing, keep the code under GNU GPL. In this case, it is a limiting factor for the user of our project, rather than for us. However, switching from GPL to any other license is prohibited, even within versions of GPL. For example, if you change LGPL (a superset of GPL) to GPL, there will be no way back to LGPL. And this point was decisive in the vote against it.
Overall, our choice initially leaned towards GPL3 This is precisely due to the widespread distribution of modified code under the same license. We thought this would help us secure our product, but we observed fewer risks with Apache 2.0. According to the Free Software Foundation, GPLv3 is compatible with Apache License v2.0., which means there is always the possibility of switching the license from Apache License v2.0 to GPL v3.0.
Apache 2.0
ā a balanced permissive license focused on copyright. Here are the answers it provided to our questions. Must the modifications to the software be documented and are they unrelated to the rights holder of the system? Yes, all changes must be documented, and we bear no responsibility for either the original code or the modified version. A file with the changes must be attached to the code where these changes were made. Must the name of the derivative software differ from the rights holder's software? Yes, derivative software should be released under a different name and trademark, but with acknowledgment of the rights holder's authorship. Can the license be changed for any new versions to another, including proprietary? Yes, it is possible to release under different licenses, Apache 2.0 does not restrict the application of any non-commercial and commercial licenses.
Additionally, when releasing new products based on code licensed under Apache 2.0 or products with added functionality, it is not mandatory to use the same license. Below you can see an image with the terms and conditions of the Apache 2.0 license.
The license requires maintaining and mentioning the copyright and the license under which the software is released. The presence of copyright notice with the name of the rights holder and the license protects the rights of the original software author, as even if it is renamed, given away, or sold under a different license, the author's mark will still remain. A file named NOTICE can also be used and attached either in the source code or in the project documentation.
We release all our products under the Apache 2.0 license publicly on GitHub, except for , the source code of which was published in April of this year under the GPLv3 license on GitHub by the Far Eastern Center for Social Technologies. Currently, besides the and its has been published developed on the framework. We have already discussed this on Habr. and about .
Technical details about the framework
IONDV. Framework ā an open-source framework based on node.js for creating high-level web applications based on metadata, which does not require advanced programming skills.
The core functionality of the application is based on a data registry ā the Registry module. This is a key module designed specifically for working with data based on metadata structures ā including project, program, event management, and more. The project also utilizes a portal module to display arbitrary data templates ā the front-end of the archive registry is implemented on it.
MongoDb is used as the DBMS ā it stores application settings, metadata, and the data itself.
How to apply a license to your project?
Add a file LICENSE with the license text to your project's repository, and voilĆ , the project is protected by Apache 2.0. You need to specify the copyright holder, which is the copyright notice. This can be done in the source code or in a file NOTICE (a text file listing all libraries licensed under the Apache license along with their creators' names). Place this file either in the source code or in the documentation distributed with the work. Hereās how it looks:
Copyright Ā© 2018 LLC Ā«ION DVĀ».
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0
Apache License 2.0 Text
Apache License
Version 2.0, January 2004
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION
Definitions.
Ā«LicenseĀ» shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
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of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
APPENDIX: How to apply the Apache License to your work.
To apply the Apache License to your work, attach the following
boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets '[]'
replaced with your own identifying information. (Donāt include
the brackets!) The text should be enclosed in the appropriate
comment syntax for the file format. We also recommend that a
file or class name and description of purpose be included on the
same 'printed page' as the copyright notice for easier
identification within third-party archives.Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the Ā«LicenseĀ»);
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License atUnless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an Ā«AS ISĀ» BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
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License = agreement
This is a free license, but it does not allow for unfettered use and we have already provided examples of limitations. Choose your license considering both your interests and those of the user, as open-source software is intended for them. The user of the project should view the license as a kind of agreement between them and the copyright holder, so before taking any action with the source code, carefully review the constraints imposed on you by the project's license.
We hope we have shed some light on the topic of licenses and, despite the complexity of the issue, it should not become an obstacle on your path in Open Source. Develop your project and remember rights, both yours and others'.
Useful links
Finally, here are some useful resources that helped us in finding information about existing licenses and choosing the most suitable one for our goals:
- Super useful from
Source: habr.com
