[License-review] Request for Approval : Modular Open-source Software License (MOSL)

[Hadrien Grasland]

Dear everybody,

I would like to submit a draft for a new software license. I have 
decided to write it because I enjoy the idea of enforced source code 
redistribution that is found in the GPL, but have had enough of the GNU 
political agenda that the rest of that license brings with it. I wanted 
something much simpler, something that basically states "If you have 
legally acquired a copy of the binary software, you can legally request 
a copy of the source code from the authors and use it in private too. 
This requirement is transmitted to any derivative work based on this 
software". And that's it. Redistribution conditions otherwise default to 
BSD/MIT-style permissive terms, and can be extended at will to add as 
many additional restrictions as needed, such as in a commercial context 
where it may be undesirable to have someone else take your source code, 
build it, and legally sell the resulting fork for a cheaper price.

The implemented result is called the Modular Open-source Software 
License (or MOSL for short), and the current draft can be found at this 
location : http://theosperiment.wordpress.com/mosl/ .

This is a new license, which does not seem to meet a "special need" in 
sense of being restricted to a specific use case. I have failed to find 
another OSI-approved license which sets similar terms, so I don't think 
it is redundant. I did not make it specific to me or someone else, and 
it has no predecessors. As such, I would spontaneously put it in the 
"Other/Miscellaneous licenses" category, for lack of a better choice.

Also, let me stress again that this is still a draft, which has not 
received lawyer review yet. As such, any comments on the wording or the 
legality of the various terms are very much welcome. If you can think of 
a way I can express this in shorter terms, or notice any potential legal 
loopholes, you are also very much welcome to discuss it too. More 
generally, good luck with the review !

Best regards,
Hadrien Grasland