[License-discuss] Shortest copyleft licence

[Rick Moen]

Quoting jonathon (jonathon.blake at gmail.com):

> On 30/03/15 07:40, Tim Makarios wrote
> > Publication Licence [1], which a more careful (automated) word-count measures at nearly 800 words.
> 
> Isn't the DWTFYL license shorter?
> (I can't override the NSFW search on my browser, to find a copy of that
> license.)

WTFPL v. 2 (latest) is so badly written it grants rights only to the
_licence_ itself, and not to any ostensibly covered work.  (Read it.)

Noting that it leaves warranty liability intact (probably accidentally)
seems beside the point, in comparison.  

It's an object lesson in why coders should not attempt to draft what are
often on this mailing list termed 'crayon licences'.

A broader point:  The quest for the shortest possible licence (of
whatever category) strikes me as solving the wrong problem.  If your
problem is that you're dealing with people having difficulty contending
with the reality of a worldwide copyright regime and trying to wish it
out of their lives, maybe overcoming that lack of reality orientation
ought to be your task.  (My opinion, yours for a small fee and waiver of
reverse-engineering rights.)

-- 
Cheers,              "I know you believe you understood what you think I said,
Rick Moen            but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not
rick at linuxmafia.com  what I meant."         -- S.I. Hayakawa
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