oss
Open Source License Compatibility Checker
What
This is a flyweight tool for software engineers/managers to quickly check open source software license compatibilities. It is also friendly to non-technical users (new license authors or lawyers) to research, expand, and experiment with new licenses.
It's not for programmers' everyday use, but I encourage everyone to be aware of licensing and take a look at https://github.com/EthicalSource/hippocratic-license
How
This is a programmable implementation of the David A. Wheeler's FLOSS compatibility graph at https://dwheeler.com/essays/floss-license-slide.html
The graph is a directed acyclic graph (DAG) of dependency (one-way compatibility). MAKE is the perfect tool dealing with it.
Usage
If you want to release your software with license TargetLIC, and want to find out what 3rd-party software you can use to compile/link or derive from, run make with TargetLIC. A list of compatible licenses will be returned. If you don't see a particluar license you used, it's not compatilbe and you can not use it unless you choose another final license.
Examples
oss$ make GPLv2
Public
MIT
BSD-new
LGPLv2.1-plus
LGPLv2.1
GPLv2-plus
GPLv2
oss$ make Apache-2.0
Public
MIT
BSD-new
Apache-2.0
How to Expand
- Do it on paper first. Find the correct place in the graph to add your new node. Connect it with all adjecent nodes with edges.
- Modify the
MAKEFILE. Add a new target and its dependenceis. Add the new target to all that depend on it.
Disclaimer
This is not legal advice. The tool is only a framework for your own believes. The examples in docs or code should not be considered ground truth.