Publish with an open license
Requirements
- All code and documentation MUST be licensed such that it may be freely reusable, changeable and redistributable.
- Software source code MUST be licensed under an OSI-approved or FSF Free/Libre license.
- All code MUST be published with a license file.
- Contributors MUST NOT be required to transfer copyright of their contributions to the codebase.
- All source code files in the codebase SHOULD include a copyright notice and a license header that are machine-readable.
- Having multiple licenses for different types of code and documentation is OPTIONAL.
Why this is important
- Makes it possible for anyone to see the code and know that they can and how they can reuse it.
What this does not do
- Prevent use of the code by any specific actors.
How to test
- Confirm that the codebase is clearly licensed.
- Confirm that the license for the source code is on the OSI-approved or FSF Free/Libre license list and the license for documentation conforms to the Open Definition.
- Confirm that the licenses used in the codebase are included as files.
- Confirm that contribution guidelines and repository configuration do not require transfer of copyright.
- Check for machine-readable license checking in the codebase continuous integration tests.
Policy makers: what you need to do
- Develop policy that requires code to be open source.
- Develop policy that disincentivizes non-open source code and technology in procurement.
Management: what you need to do
- Only work with open source vendors that deliver their code by publishing it under an open source license.
- Beware that even though Creative Commons licenses are great for documentation, licenses that stipulate Non-Commercial or No Derivatives are NOT freely reusable, changeable and redistributable and don’t fulfill these requirements.
Developers and designers: what you need to do
- Add a new
licensefile to every new codebase created. - Add a copyright notice and a license header to every new source code file created.
Further reading
- Open source definition by the Open Source Initiative, all open source licenses meet this definition.
- Animated video introduction to Creative Commons by Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand.
- REUSE Initiative specification by Free Software Foundation Europe for unambiguous, human-readable and machine-readable copyright and licensing information.
- SPDX License List by the Linux Foundation with standardized, machine-readable abbreviations for most licenses.