Open Source Community License - Type R

From Syncleus Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Restricted Type

Open Source Community License - Type R: Plain Text | RTF

This license is our most restrictive license since it is the only one that restricts execution of its binaries to noncommercial uses. This license is similar to the gpl to the same extent as our type C license, however it uses the Authors' Recursive License to manage the viral nature usually associated with the GPL. It is essentially the best of a gpl-like licenses combined with the advantages of a BSD-like license, without the viral nature, or the chance for cooperate entities to steal the work.

Some of this license's most notable features are:

  • Share alike - Any copies or derivatives of this work must make the source available whenever the program is distributed, and this license must carry over. This ensures that except for the copyright holders anyone who modifies the source has to make it open, unless they only plan to use the modifications for themselves. This is the same approach the GPL takes, and one reason it is so popular.
  • Noncommercial Execution - Any program governed under this license can only be executed for non-commercial intentions. This includes personal compensation as well. If you want a license that does not restrict execution look at the Open Source Community License - Type C.
  • Keep Attribution - You cant remove any copyright notices or references to the license when the source is distributed. This prevents someone from redistributing the source and giving someone the impression it was their own. Which in turn prevents the receiver from using the source code as if it didn't have any of these restrictions due to ignorance of them. Both the BSD license and the GPL, as well as most others, have this requirement.
  • Authors' Recursive License - This is the most unique quality of the oscl licenses. It is a special sublicense with fewer restrictions on it that are only shared amongst certain authors of the program. When someone modifies a portion of the code any part of the code that his code had to depend on (for example calling functions) is governed by this authors' recursive license and is given only to the owner of the code's dependency. So if someone writes some code for the base of a program the individual receives an authors' recursive license from everyone else who contributes to his code; it also cascades to every intermediate authors. This provides greater incentive for people to contribute. Especially when a company may own the proprietary wrights to already written applications. The Authors' recursive license affords similar rights as a BSD license, in that it is nonrestrictive. The holder of such a license is allowed to release their portion of code under proprietary license or for resale.
Retrieved from "http://wiki.syncleus.com/index.php/Open_Source_Community_License_-_Type_R"