Keyword: Free Software Licences (was: [ox-en] Oekonux introduction)
- From: Stefan Merten <smerten oekonux.de>
- Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:52:06 +0200
Keyword: Free Software Licences
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* Licenses are contracts
* Govern under which conditions someone may do something with the
software
Proprietary software also uses licenses
* Especially: Use, modify, distribute
* Software licenses are based on copyright
Copyright is based on state power
* The genius hack: Use the copyright system against itself
* Copyright creates scarcity by denying rights
* Copyleft creates abundance by granting rights
* Two main license types: GPL and BSD
* Though many licenses exist
Since a license is a contract it's easy to invent a new license
But it's rarely useful
* Lists of Free Software licenses by FSF and OSI
* Main difference: May a licensee close sources again or not?
* BSD: Software may be distributed without sources
* GPL: Sources must be kept open
* More than 50% of Free Software projects use the GPL
.. admonition:: Conclusion
Fundamental facility to embed Free Software in the law system
Inherits the security from the law system
Inherits the power of the law system
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