MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Plugin Devs: Should we include a License or COPYING file?

KevinH · 08-15-2017, 11:45 AM

Hi Plugin Devs,

What are you thoughts on asking Plugin Developers to include a License information file in their plugins or at least on their main plugin thread page?

That way a developer can explicitly select their own license and if they use external or internal python libraries or tools, they can note their specific license details as well.

For example, for my own plugins, I was thinking of using LGPL2 or LGPL3 making them free to copy and abuse but just not easy to make private. For some of my other plugins I might choose a BSD or MIT license since I really do not care one way or the other about the license and who uses it. I am just happy they are useful.

For things you want to make commercial, you could include a license stating that all copying is forbidden without express permission from the author.

At least in that way, people might feel more free to modify and improve plugins without worry since without a license file or some other license indication, copying and modification with redistribution is not permitted.

What are your thoughts?

08-15-2017, 11:45 AM	#1
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,808 Karma: 6000000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Plugin Devs: Should we include a License or COPYING file? Hi Plugin Devs, What are you thoughts on asking Plugin Developers to include a License information file in their plugins or at least on their main plugin thread page? That way a developer can explicitly select their own license and if they use external or internal python libraries or tools, they can note their specific license details as well. For example, for my own plugins, I was thinking of using LGPL2 or LGPL3 making them free to copy and abuse but just not easy to make private. For some of my other plugins I might choose a BSD or MIT license since I really do not care one way or the other about the license and who uses it. I am just happy they are useful. For things you want to make commercial, you could include a license stating that all copying is forbidden without express permission from the author. At least in that way, people might feel more free to modify and improve plugins without worry since without a license file or some other license indication, copying and modification with redistribution is not permitted. What are your thoughts?