[scikit-learn] climate friendly software licence

[Gael Varoquaux]

Hi Sole,

I personally believe that global warming is the most important threat to
our well-being, together with the rise of fascism.

However, legal matters are seldom easy (IANAL). It is unclear that those
licenses are enforceable. See for instance the discussion from Bruce
Perens, who has a huge amount of experience in open source licensing:
https://perens.com/2019/10/12/invasion-of-the-ethical-licenses/
(credit to Andy Mueller for digging up this reference).

The more common a software license is, the more likely a team is to hold
in court, and the less likely a team is to have legal fees to cover
(which would kill us, as a project).

Best,

Gaël

On Mon, Jun 29, 2020 at 08:06:58AM +0000, Sole Galli via scikit-learn wrote:
> Hello Scikit-learn team,

> I've come across this:
> https://twitter.com/tristanharris/status/1277136696568508418?s=12



> Basically, it is an initiative to include in software license a prohibition of
> use by fossil fuel extractivist companies. 

> I would like to know your views on this? Is this something that you would pick
> up from Scikit-learn?

> Are there some legal concerns to be aware of? or anything else that should be
> considered?

> Because it sounds quite powerful and straightforward to me.

> I would be really keen to hear from you.

> Thanks a lot

> Sole

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-- 
    Gael Varoquaux
    Research Director, INRIA		  Visiting professor, McGill 
    http://gael-varoquaux.info            http://twitter.com/GaelVaroquaux