NPO Developers License

[Wilson, Andrew]

Don Cameron wrote:

> One contributor pointed me to the "Fair Source License"
> www.softdevelcoop.org/FSL_v0.1.txt which at first read appears to
cover our
> requirements well. Distribution and derivative works are empowered yet
> commercialization (selling) is prohibited without express and separate
> approval from the copyright owners. Our use of this license will be
> dependent on legal advice however I am hopeful it will meet our
purpose. I
> believe this license differs from the "Fair License" mentioned on OSI
> although am yet to return for confirmation.

At a first reading, this license is so restrictive that I would question
whether
(for example) offering FSL covered code for gratis download from an
advertising-supported site would be a permissible use, or whether
(for another example) an educational institution which charged 
any form of tuition or fees would be allowed to use the SW.

It appears you have the "idee fixe" that your project absolutely
requires
a "free as in beer" license.  Do what's right for your project, but
please understand that you would be -- literally, and intentionally -- 
creating "third world" software with licensing terms 
incompatible with both proprietary and free/open source SW.

Andy Wilson
Intel Open Source Technology Center