Open Source Newbie

[Matthew Flaschen]

Bani wrote:
> Hi,
> 
>> 1. With so many types of license, how do i choose which one should be used
>> or adapted from? Can i do this at all? How do we get an approval from the
>> open source org for an approval of the license?
>> http://opensource.org/licenses/category

As far as choosing the license, it depends on what your goals are.
Deepak, can you tell us what you are hoping to accomplish with your
offering?

> You are highly encouraged to use the text of a pre-existing license
> instead of adapting it, and the main reason for that is because it
> makes it easier for your users to understand it, avoiding new
> conflicts because of new clauses. It is very unlikely that you'll get
> a new license approved when you don't have a strong community of users
> behind it.
> Now, to choose a license, that is the tricky part. There are two books
> related to this subject that I can recommend:
> - Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and Intellectual Property
> Law, by Lawrence Rosen
> - Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing, by Andrew M.
> St. Laurent
> But maybe someone can give you a shorter guide.
> 
>> 2. What is the difference between the two web sites and the license on these
>> websites?
>> www.opensource.org and http://creativecommons.org/
> 
> The first is for software and the second is focused on other types od
> content (text, media, etc)

Right.  Note that CC says
(http://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ#Can_I_use_a_Creative_Commons_license_for_software.3F),
"We do not recommend it. Creative Commons licenses should not be used
for software. We strongly encourage you to use one of the very good
software licenses which are already available. We recommend considering
licenses made available by the Free Software Foundation or listed at the
Open Source Initiative."

Matt Flaschen