We are pleased to announce that you can now choose a license for your systems! We offer three default licenses: Apache 2.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, and CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, but you can choose any license that suits you. Note that it is now also possible to choose whether or not you allow forks of your systems.
What each license does can be difficult to understand, so here are some explanations of what the 3 default licenses we offer do. The Apache 2.0, CC BY-SA, and CC BY-NC-SA licenses are all free software licenses, but they have significant differences in the terms and conditions they impose on the use, modification, and redistribution of systems.
- Apache 2.0 License : The Apache 2.0 license is a permissive license that allows users of the system to modify, distribute and reproduce it, even for commercial purposes, without significant restrictions, provided the author is credited. The Apache 2.0 license does not require that derivative systems also be licensed under the Apache license.
- Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) : The CC BY-SA license is a sharing license similar to the Apache 2.0 license, but it imposes an additional "copyleft" condition that requires derivative systems to also be licensed under the same CC BY-SA license. This license also allows commercial and non-commercial use, but derivative systems must be distributed under the same license. Using this license dictates that the source code of your system must remain open, even in its forks. This licence is compatible with GPLv3 (GNU General Public License version 3).
- Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) : The CC BY-NC-SA license is a license that permits non-commercial use and redistribution under the same conditions as the CC BY-SA license. This license prohibits commercial use of the system or any derivative system, which means that if a company - such as a publisher - wants to use or distribute a system under the CC BY-NC-SA license, it must obtain express permission from the author.
There are other licenses, for example CC0 1.0, which is a "No Copyright" license and opens your system to the public domain. On the other hand, if you work for a publisher, you may want to put all or part of your system under a commercial license, and prohibit reproduction.
It is important to choose the right license for your systems because it can have a significant impact on how they are used and distributed by others. By choosing an appropriate license, you can protect your copyright while allowing others to contribute to your work in a constructive way. We therefore encourage all system builders to carefully consider the various licenses and choose the one that best suits their needs. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to join our discord for further help and advice.