[License-discuss] Possible alternative was: Re: U.S. Army Research Laboratory Open Source License (ARL OSL) Version 0.4.1

[Karan, Cem F CIV USARMY RDECOM ARL (US)]

All, the folks at code.mil came up with what may be a really, really good 
idea; see 
https://github.com/deptofdefense/code.mil/blob/master/Proposal/CONTRIBUTING.md.

The basic idea is simple; when the Government releases code, it's in the 
public domain (likely CC0).  The project owners select an OSI-approved 
license, and will only accept contributions to the project under their chosen 
license[1].  Over time the code base becomes a mixture, some of which is under 
CC0, and some of which is under the OSI-approved license.  I've talked with 
ARL's lawyers, and they are satisfied with this solution.  Would OSI be happy 
with this solution?  That is, would OSI recognize the projects as being truly 
Open Source, right from the start?  The caveat is that some projects will be 
100% CC0 at the start, and can only use the chosen Open Source license on 
those contributions that have copyright attached.  Note that Government 
projects that wish to make this claim would have to choose their license and 
announce it on the project site so that everyone knows what they are licensing 
their contributions under, which is the way that OSI can validate that the 
project is keeping its end of the bargain at the start.

If this will satisfy OSI, then I will gladly withdraw the ARL OSL from 
consideration.  If there are NASA or other Government folks on here, would 
this solution satisfy your needs as well?

Thanks,
Cem Karan

[1] There is also a form certifying that the contributor has the right to do 
so, etc.  The Army Research Laboratory's is at 
https://github.com/USArmyResearchLab/ARL-Open-Source-Guidance-and-Instructions/blob/master/ARL%20Form%20-%20266.pdf, 
and is, unfortunately, only able to be opened in Adobe Acrobat.  We're working 
to fix that, but there are other requirements that will take some time.
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