For Approval: The Wilhelm Svenselius Open Source License version 1.0

Sun Aug 31 18:47:30 UTC 2003

I submit for approval The Wilhelm Svenselius Open Source License version 
1.0 (the "WSOSL"). The text version is attached to this message; you can 
find the HTML version at http://home.ws83.net/code/WSOSL.html

Please note: I have not sent a legal analysis of this license to 
license-approval at opensource.org, because your document "Getting a 
License Approved" indicates that such an analysis should come from a 
licensed lawyer. I have no such person at my disposal, not can I afford 
to pay for one. I do not believe such an analysis is necessary because 
my license is essentially cut and pasted together from many existing 
OSI-approved licenses. If such an analysis is an absolute requirement, I 
regret to have wasted your time.

My goal in creating the WSOSL was to create a license that did what I 
wanted (keep free software free, preserve copyright) and little else. I 
also wanted to keep it short. My initial goal was to create a license 
similar in length to the BSD license, and while I failed in this, I 
still think my license is short enough that your average Joe Chipset PC 
user out there could manage to read all of it without dying of boredom. 
One of the greatest issues I see with the GPL is that it is far too long 
  - according to a recent Slashdot poll most people don't seem to bother 
reading it, despite using tons of software that's released under its 
terms. The same could be said about practically any EULA. In creating my 
license, I essentially cut and pasted together the bits I wanted from 
several existing OSI-approved licenses, most notably the BSD, MIT and 
GPL licenses, re-wording as I felt necessary.

My license is the most similar to the GPL in that it ensures that free 
software stays free and available to the public free of charge, 
regardless of how many times it's modified. It also ensures that the 
original author (which would be me, in the license I've attached - 
however, my name could easily be swapped out for someone else's) is 
credited for his or her hard work.

As for precedence, if software licensed under the WSOSL is combined with 
another OS-licensed work, then the WSOSL must take precedence. However, 
the WSOSL is not designed to be incompatible with other open source 
licenses, in the sense that code originally licensed under, for example, 
the BSD or MIT license could be re-licensed under the WSOSL with little 
difficulty.

The full text of the WSOSL version 1 follows:

---

The Wilhelm Svenselius Open Source License
version 1.0

This software is copyright (c) Wilhelm Svenselius, 2003
All rights reserved.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a 
copy of this software and any associated files ("the Software"), to use 
and distribute the Software, in source and binary form, with or without 
modification, provided that the following conditions are met:

1. All distributions of source code must retain all copyright notices 
present in the original, and the following notice contained and 
prominently displayed in each document:

    This Software is licensed under the terms of
    The Wilhelm Svenselius Open Source License version 1.0
    Please see license.txt for details.

Where license.txt is the name of a file, which contains the full 
unmodified text of this License, and which must be included in the 
distribution.

2. All distributions of the Software in binary form must reproduce the 
above copyright notice, as well as the full text of this License, in the 
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

3. All distributions of the Software in binary form must include, in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution, a 
notice in English describing how to obtain the full source code, 
including any modifications, without charge. Preferably, the source 
should be included in the distribution or downloadable via the Internet. 
The source code must be in the preferred form in which a programmer 
would modify the program.

4. Products derived from or containing any part of the Software must not 
carry the same name as the Software without specific prior written 
permission.

5. The name "Wilhelm Svenselius" must not be used to endorse or promote 
products derived from or containing any part of the Software without 
specific prior written permission.

6. Products derived from or containing any part of the Software must be
licensed as a whole at NO CHARGE to all third parties under the terms of 
this license.

You are not required to accept this License. However, nothing else 
grants you permission to modify or distribute the Software or works 
derived from it. These actions are prohibited by international law if 
you do not accept this License.

By modifying or distributing any part of the Software in any form, you 
confirm your acceptance of this License in full.

If any part of this License is declared unenforceable or invalid for any 
reason, this License in its entirety is void and you may only use the 
Software as international copyright law permits, meaning you may no 
longer modify or distribute any part of the Software in any form.

BECAUSE THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY 
FOR THE SOFTWARE, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN 
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES 
PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER 
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED 
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE 
ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH 
YOU. SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL 
NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING 
WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR 
REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR 
DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL 
DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE 
(INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED 
INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF 
THE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARES), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER 
OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

This License complies with version 1.9 of the Open Source Definition,
as defined at: http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition_plain.html

--

Most Sincerely,
Wilhelm Svenselius

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