[Tutor] licensing python work?

[Steven D'Aprano]

Wayne Werner wrote:
> If you don't care how people use it at all, just release your code into the
> public domain, then it doesn't matter how they use it.

That's actually not as easy as it sounds. It depends where you are. In 
some jurisdictions, such as the USA, it's hard to put work into the 
public domain in such a way as it sticks. Just look at the effort the 
Creative Commons people going to in order to make their "public domain" 
licence bulletproof.

http://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/

You might say, "What difference does it make, I'm not going to sue you". 
Sure, but what if you get hit by a bus, and your heirs come after me 
with a fully-loaded lawyer for "stealing" your valuable intellectual 
"property"?

If your release isn't bulletproof, I'm not going to touch it.


Personally I recommend two free/open source licences: the MIT licence 
and the GPL.

If you want people to use your work, and you don't care how, use the MIT 
licence:

http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php

The only restriction is that if they re-distribute your software, they 
have to include the copyright notice.


If you want your uses to "share and share alike", use the GPL:

http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license

But if you're serious about having others use your software, you *must* 
be GPL-compatible:

http://www.dwheeler.com/essays/gpl-compatible.html

Whatever you do, don't make up your own licence unless you are a lawyer 
specializing in *international* copyright law and software licences! 
Every time an amateur makes up a new open source licence, God buys a 
retail version of Windows.



-- 
Steven