Who?
- Richard Fontana
- Bradley M. Kuhn
- Eben Moglen
- Matthew Norwood
- Daniel B. Ravicher
- Karen Sandler
- James Vasile
- Aaron Williamson
What?
FOSS Primer - A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects(Chapters 1&2)
Where?
When?
4 June 2008
The Gist
An informational primer to help people interested in FOSS familiarize themselves with things like different licenses, different terms like "copyright" or "copyleft", and the enforcement of licenses and copyrights.
The Good
- I didn't find it too hard to read. Wasn't written in heavy legal jargon with citations everywhere
- I finally have a better understanding of different licenses now
- Makes it clear that you should search for more specific information if you are interested in something rather than just going straight off from the primer
The Bad
- This is a very important modern topic, and this version of the primer is from 2008.
- Some of the licenses could have been a bit better explained in more detail.
- The Apache License was talked about early on, but I don't think it was very in depth when describing the specific licenses.
The Questions
- Do we have certain default copyrights to our code, the second we start writing it?
- Which license could potentially allow for the most profit?
- Why are companies allowed to just claim rights to code written by their employees in free time on non-company machines?
My Review
As someone interested in FOSS with little knowledge on the different licenses, the meaning of copyright, and the enforcement of said licenses, I found this reading incredibly enlightening. I am very glad I got to read it and it sheds a lot of light on my understanding of FOSS in general.
9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment