[License-discuss] Feedback about fair-code model

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Paulo Coghi - Coghi IT (paulocoghi at gmail.com):

> Hello community, my name is Paulo Coghi. Nice to meet you!

Welcome, Paulo.

> I recently discovered the fair-code model (https://faircode.io/) and I
> would like to know if it "fits" on any specific OSI approved license.
> 
> It was created by n8n's author (https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n) as a
> way to solve the long discussion taken here
> https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/issues/40 after he called his software
> "open source"

Although that issue (bug) item's discussion started out heated, I note
with appreciation Karl Fogel's effort to add clarity in his comment.

> Thus, I would like to know if there is an approved OSI license that
> provides the same rights and obligations as fair-code.

> The 4 main points are:
[...]
>  - only the original creator (of the open source software) can sell the
> software itself (for example, for self-hosted offers)

This violates the letter and spirit of OSD #6.  (See:
https://opensource.org/osd-annotated)  As mentioned, this point 
implies you're currently seeking a shareware licence.  There is nothing
wrong with attempting a shareware business model, but then the licence
terms enforcing that model (inevitably) make the covered code non-open
source (proprietary).

The first issue (bug) commenter cited Apache License as one that is
often used for commerce-friendly development without proprietary
advantage.  It might meet your needs, or maybe not.  It does not reserve
the monopoly over commercial use you mentioned in your four points.

-- 
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Rick Moen      Everything about it is appealing, everything about it is a wow.
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