The document discusses open source licenses, emphasizing their importance in software governance, use, and distribution. It explains the distinction between different types of open source licenses and encourages understanding the implications of each license to choose appropriately for various needs. Key points include the moral imperative of software freedom, the challenges in obtaining new license approvals, and a final note on the necessity of selecting the right license.

1. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
UNDERSTANDING
OPEN SOURCE LICENSES
Jim Jagielski
@jimjag
@AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015
AKA: How I learned to stop worrying and love the LICENSE

2. @AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
ABOUT ME
๏ Apache Software Foundation
๏ Co-founder, Director, Member and Developer
๏ Director
๏ Outercurve, MARSEC-XL, OSSI, OSI (ex)…
๏ Developer
๏ Mega FOSS projects
๏ IANAL
๏ Consulting S/W Engineer: Red Hat
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3. @AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
ABOUT ME
๏ Apache Software Foundation
๏ Co-founder, Director, Member and Developer
๏ Director
๏ Outercurve, MARSEC-XL, OSSI, OSI (ex)…
๏ Developer
๏ Mega FOSS projects
๏ IANAL
๏ Consulting S/W Engineer: Red Hat
๏ Sr. Director: Tech Fellows: Capital One
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4. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
WHAT’S IN
YOUR LICENSE?
@AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015

5. @AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
WHY?
๏ Copyright is the default
๏ Open Source is everywhere
๏ The license determines use, re-use and distribution
๏ Not understanding means risk
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
LICENSE GOALS
๏ Ensure what parts remain open source
๏ Maintain control over code and direction
๏ Provide common implementation for standards
๏ Build community or commercial marketplace
๏ For most end-users, this is the sole touch-point
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
OPEN SOURCE
๏ For software to be Open Source, it must be under an OSI approved
Open Source License
๏ Open Source Definition: http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd
๏ 10 criteria
๏ At last count, over 60 exist
๏ New Open Source licenses are very hard to get approved
๏ There are really 3 main types
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8. @AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
FREE SOFTWARE
๏ “Free” as in “free speech” (not as in “free beer”, although free beer is
good!)
๏ Software freedom is a moral imperative.
๏ Free Software Definition:
๏ 4 basic freedoms must be maintained
๏ Free Software ~== Open Source
๏ F(L)OSS
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PROMISES
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LET’S PRETEND
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==

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
USE
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12. @AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
MODIFY
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
SHARE
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14. @AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
LICENSES
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
GIVE ME CREDIT
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Permissive:
ALv2
MIT
BSD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
GIVE ME FIXES
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Weak Copyleft:
EPL
LGPL

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
GIVE ME EVERYTHING
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Strong Copyleft
GPLv2
GPLv3
AGPL

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FINAL THOUGHTS
๏ There is no true one Open Source license
๏ Take time to understand licenses (it can be very difficult to change)
๏ Differences between same type
๏ Choose the right license
๏ Different license for different needs/goals
๏ Don’t pick because it’s “popular”
๏ Don’t modify a license (or UGG! try to make a new one)
๏ Choose a license!
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19. @AllThingsOpen | #ATO2015
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. All images property of their respective copyright holders
THANKS
๏ Jim Jagielski
๏ @jimjag
๏ http://www.jimjag.com/
๏ http://slideshare.net/jimjag/
๏ http://youtube.com/user/jimjagski
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