[License-review] [License-Review] QmDeve License 1.0

[QmDeve]

Dear OSI License Review Committee,

I am writing to submit the "QmDeve License 1.0" for approval as an Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved license.

1、License Text

The full text of the QmDeve License 1.0 is provided below:

```
QmDeve License
Version 1.0, November 2025

Copyright (c) 2025 <Name>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

1. The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

2. The name of the copyright holder or its contributors shall not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

Contributor Grant: By submitting contributions to the Software, you grant the copyright holder and users of the Software a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute your contributions and such derivative works.

Patent Grant: The copyright holder and each contributor hereby grants to you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Software, where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable by such copyright holder or contributor that are necessarily infringed by their contribution(s) alone or by combination of their contribution(s) with the Software to which such contribution(s) was submitted. If you institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Software or a contribution incorporated within the Software constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to you under this license for the Software shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed.

Disclaimer of Warranty: THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
```

2、Rationale for Submission

While permissive licenses like MIT and Apache 2.0 are excellent and widely used, we believe the QmDeve License 1.0 addresses a specific combination of needs that is not fully met by existing options:

· Simplicity and Clarity: It retains the straightforward language and minimal restrictions of the MIT license.
· Explicit Patent Protection: Unlike the MIT license, it includes an explicit, modern patent grant and termination clause, similar to Apache 2.0, which provides crucial legal safety for users and contributors in today's software landscape.
· Trademark Protection: It includes a no-endorsement clause (like BSD-3-Clause and Apache 2.0) to protect the "QmDeve" organization name and identity from being used to endorse derived products without permission.
· Contributor Clarity: It explicitly states that contributions are licensed under the same terms, clarifying the inbound-outbound contribution process for projects.

We believe this combination—a truly permissive core, coupled with explicit patent and trademark protections—creates a balanced and secure license for modern open-source projects.

3、Check against the Open Source Definition (OSD)

We affirm that the QmDeve License 1.0 conforms to all ten criteria of the Open Source Definition:

1. Free Redistribution: Yes. Permits redistribution and sale.
2. Source Code: Yes. Source code can be freely distributed.
3. Derived Works: Yes. Allows creation and distribution of modifications and derived works.
4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code: Yes. Condition 1 preserves copyright notices.
5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups: Yes.
6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor: Yes.
7. Distribution of License: Yes. The license applies automatically to all redistributors.
8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product: Yes. The license is not tied to a specific product.
9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software: Yes. It does not place restrictions on other software distributed alongside it.
10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral: Yes. The license is not specific to any technology or interface.


4、Proliferation and Redundancy Analysis

We have analyzed this license against the MIT and Apache 2.0 licenses.

· vs. MIT: The QmDeve License 1.0 provides significant additional protections (patent and trademark) that the MIT license lacks, addressing a modern legal concern.
· vs. Apache 2.0: While Apache 2.0 is a comprehensive license, it is longer and more complex. The QmDeve License 1.0 aims for a middle ground—providing similar core protections (patent, trademark) but in a potentially more accessible format. We believe this fills a niche for projects that want stronger legal safeguards than MIT but prefer a different structure than Apache 2.0.

5、Legal Review

This license text has been drafted with careful consideration of established open-source legal language. (Note: We recommend you add here if you have had it reviewed by a qualified attorney, e.g., "It has been reviewed by [Law Firm Name].")

6、Known Use

This license is currently planned for use by projects under the "QmDeve" organization on GitHub. We are seeking OSI approval to ensure its legitimacy and foster wider community adoption.

We welcome feedback from the committee and the community and are prepared to discuss and refine the license text based on your recommendations.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely