discuss: HOWTO under my own license
Subject:
Re: HOWTO under my own license
From:
Rick Moen ####@####.####
Date:
17 Jun 2005 22:40:06 -0000
Message-Id: <20050617224001.GO5977@linuxmafia.com>
Quoting Pradeep Padala ####@####.####
> :-) To brew up some discussion, what license would you use for
> documentation you write for an open source project?
Well, as that one URL you cited mentioned, if you're referring to an
open-source _software_ project, then there's something to be said for
using the same licence as is used for the codebase. That means that,
among other things, if it's ever necessary to embed portions of the docs
(beyond what "fair use" permits) into the code, that can be done without
getting separate permission from copyright holders. Also, that way,
you can be confident that users of the codebase will find your
documentation's licence acceptable (since they've already done so once).
But those considerations apply, really, only if your doc will be shipped
with the codebase or is likely to ever be so.
Otherwise, the usual considerations apply: If you want to prevent
proprietary forks, use a copyleft licence. If you wish to encourage the
widest possible usage, use a simple permissive one. If you want to be
able to legally suppress derivative works that horrify you, use some
sort of proprietary licence.
And, of course, you might even ask the intended audience "I'm thinking
of using [licence foo] for my documentation. Any of you have
significant problems with that?"
