Hey fellow Linux enthusiasts.

I’m inching closer to releasing my program for Linux. I’ll go into details on what the program is when I release it, as it’s not really relevant to this question (IMHO).

Anyway, here are my prerequisites:

  • the program will be free. I will accept donations, but the program will be free to download and use.
  • open source.
  • I’m happy for others to use my code, as long as I’m credited.
  • I do not wish to allow others to use my code in commercial applications (as there will be mobile versions later, and I don’t want clones selling it for money, as the mobile versions will also be free.

I’m looking for advice on the best code license to choose, based on my requirements. I’d also like it if my choice of license didn’t prohibit my program from potentially being included in package managers.

I’m grateful for any advice. Thank you.

Edit

Thanks for the replies everyone. I’ve decided to not let my concerns overcome the most important thing of releasing the project as fully open source.

Just going to go with GPLv3 and not worry about the clones that will happen regardless of the license type, if the program becomes popular.

Thank you all for your insight and for helping me come to what I believe to be the best option.

  • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
    2·
    11 months ago

    You can pick between “transferring rights and publishing on app stores” or “not accepting outside help” with licenses like GPL. Anything else is a recipe for disaster. You can’t publish GPL software to mobile app stores, you need to dual license it (which is easy to do yourself, and very hard to do as more people get involved).

    A CLA only affects the upstream projects, all manner of forks and modifications are still allowed. Furthermore, a CLA doesn’t need to be the “we own your code now” type, it can also be the “the upstream project you volunteer your code to is allowed to publish your code to app stores” type.

    Alternatively you could pick a license that’s more liberal, such as Apache or MIT, but that would also allow businesses to clone the app without upstreaming changes, which is the main reason GPL is such a good license to prevent corporate meddling in the first place.