[License-review] For Approval: OpenMDW License Agreement, versions 1.1 (OpenMDW-1.1)

[Pamela Chestek]

McCoy, you asked for a definition of "software freedom" and Moming's 
response is similar to my thoughts:

On 8/29/2026 11:10 PM, Moming Duan wrote:
>
> Here is a simple test of my own: *if 99% of the world's models were 
> released under license X, would our ecosystem be better off?*
>
My premise is that the everyone benefits from a software commons, so, 
does the license encourage or discourage sharing? "Software freedom" is 
the ability to do anything you want with the software. A few 
conditions/impairments are allowed because they indirectly encourage the 
growth of the software commons - giving credit (copyright 
notice/attribution), telling people what their rights are (the license), 
the appropriate distribution of risk (the "as-is" rep and disclaimer of 
warranty), and compulsory sharing (copyleft). The balance is very 
delicate. It's questionable whether the GPLv3, and then the AGPL, 
contribute to the health of the open source software commons because 
they are commonly used as the antagonist to encourage people to get a 
commercial license instead. It does, though, seem that lever isn't as 
successful anymore, since people are more willing to comply with the 
copyleft licenses and these two licenses are more often being used for 
their intended benefit.

This, I think, is the piece that's missing from the OSD. We've seen the 
OSD gamed when it has been formally met but it is nevertheless clear 
that the license is designed to give one entity superior rights in the 
software or has mechanisms that will discourage the use of the software. 
"Providing software freedom" as a requirement is a check on that.

Pam

Pamela S. Chestek
Chestek Legal
4641 Post St.
Unit 4316
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
+1 919-800-8033
pamela at chesteklegal.com
www.chesteklegal.com

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