Hi all,
Let's say I'm working on a software that is written in Python, with
wxPython, Numpy and Matplotlib.
If I plan to release this siftware, which License should I use? PSF,
MIT, BSD, GPL...
I'm confused on the restrictions of each.
tks
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The GPL is by far the most restrictive of these. I’ve never fully understood the distinctions between the rest, but they’re all essentially very similar from the application developer’s perspective, in the sense that they’re “non-viral”. If you’re worried about complying with the licenses for the underlying libraries, Numpy uses the BSD license, Matplotlib uses something like the PSF license, and wxPython uses the LGPL or something very similar. So you have a great deal of flexibility in choosing a license, including something very proprietary, as long as you follow the license terms of the underlying libraries, which is easy.
If you’re interested in making your code available to the community, I’d strongly advise you to use the PSF, MIT, or BSD licenses (the LGPL is okay in general but it’s really only suitable for libraries). The only reason why you might need to use the GPL is if you’re using GPL code in your app. Otherwise, it comes down to a matter of personal preference. It will benefit more people if you use a very liberal license like BSD, but there is always the risk of a competitor re-selling parts of it under a proprietary license and not contributing anything back. On the other hand, if you use the GPL, your code will always remain open (barring flagrant license violations), but many of us won’t be able to do anything with it. (Including a large number of open-source developers who use more liberal licenses, not just commercial developers.)
You can also use a mix of licenses - many people do this (in my case, a combination of a BSD-like library, and proprietary apps), and dual-licensing is not unheard of either.
-Nat
On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 1:37 PM, Carlos Grohmann carlos.grohmann@gmail.com wrote:
Let’s say I’m working on a software that is written in Python, with
wxPython, Numpy and Matplotlib.
If I plan to release this siftware, which License should I use? PSF,
MIT, BSD, GPL…
I’m confused on the restrictions of each.
Many thanks, Nat. I think i will go BSD or PSF.
Carlos
On 13 ago, 18:16, Nat Echols <nathaniel.ech...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 1:37 PM, Carlos Grohmann > <carlos.grohm...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Let's say I'm working on a software that is written in Python, with
> wxPython, Numpy and Matplotlib.> If I plan to release this siftware, which License should I use? PSF,
> MIT, BSD, GPL...> I'm confused on the restrictions of each.
The GPL is by far the most restrictive of these. I've never fully
understood the distinctions between the rest, but they're all essentially
very similar from the application developer's perspective, in the sense that
they're "non-viral". If you're worried about complying with the licenses
for the underlying libraries, Numpy uses the BSD license, Matplotlib uses
something like the PSF license, and wxPython uses the LGPL or something very
similar. So you have a great deal of flexibility in choosing a license,
including something very proprietary, as long as you follow the license
terms of the underlying libraries, which is easy.If you're interested in making your code available to the community, I'd
strongly advise you to use the PSF, MIT, or BSD licenses (the LGPL is okay
in general but it's really only suitable for libraries). The only reason
why you might *need* to use the GPL is if you're using GPL code in your app.
Otherwise, it comes down to a matter of personal preference. It will
benefit more people if you use a very liberal license like BSD, but there is
always the risk of a competitor re-selling parts of it under a proprietary
license and not contributing anything back. On the other hand, if you use
the GPL, your code will always remain open (barring flagrant license
violations), but many of us won't be able to do anything with it.
(Including a large number of open-source developers who use more liberal
licenses, not just commercial developers.)You can also use a mix of licenses - many people do this (in my case, a
combination of a BSD-like library, and proprietary apps), and dual-licensing
is not unheard of either.-Nat
In that case choose BSD as it is more widespread.
On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 11:14 PM, Carlos Grohmann <carlos.grohmann@gmail.com> wrote:
Many thanks, Nat. I think i will go BSD or PSF.
Carlos
On 13 ago, 18:16, Nat Echols <nathaniel.ech...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 1:37 PM, Carlos Grohmann >> <carlos.grohm...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Let's say I'm working on a software that is written in Python, with
> wxPython, Numpy and Matplotlib.> If I plan to release this siftware, which License should I use? PSF,
> MIT, BSD, GPL...> I'm confused on the restrictions of each.
The GPL is by far the most restrictive of these. I've never fully
understood the distinctions between the rest, but they're all essentially
very similar from the application developer's perspective, in the sense that
they're "non-viral". If you're worried about complying with the licenses
for the underlying libraries, Numpy uses the BSD license, Matplotlib uses
something like the PSF license, and wxPython uses the LGPL or something very
similar. So you have a great deal of flexibility in choosing a license,
including something very proprietary, as long as you follow the license
terms of the underlying libraries, which is easy.If you're interested in making your code available to the community, I'd
strongly advise you to use the PSF, MIT, or BSD licenses (the LGPL is okay
in general but it's really only suitable for libraries). The only reason
why you might *need* to use the GPL is if you're using GPL code in your app.
Otherwise, it comes down to a matter of personal preference. It will
benefit more people if you use a very liberal license like BSD, but there is
always the risk of a competitor re-selling parts of it under a proprietary
license and not contributing anything back. On the other hand, if you use
the GPL, your code will always remain open (barring flagrant license
violations), but many of us won't be able to do anything with it.
(Including a large number of open-source developers who use more liberal
licenses, not just commercial developers.)You can also use a mix of licenses - many people do this (in my case, a
combination of a BSD-like library, and proprietary apps), and dual-licensing
is not unheard of either.-Nat
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