From bd165eda1b37b84f69420d283fc64522af2fa85d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "U. Bruhin" Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2024 00:23:56 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Add documentation about licenses --- modules/user-manual/nav.adoc | 1 + modules/user-manual/pages/licenses.adoc | 207 ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 208 insertions(+) create mode 100644 modules/user-manual/pages/licenses.adoc diff --git a/modules/user-manual/nav.adoc b/modules/user-manual/nav.adoc index 09b7a1be..dc17a0be 100644 --- a/modules/user-manual/nav.adoc +++ b/modules/user-manual/nav.adoc @@ -1,5 +1,6 @@ * xref:index.adoc[] ** xref:layers.adoc[] +** xref:licenses.adoc[] ** Project Editor *** xref:project-editor/assembly-data.adoc[] *** xref:project-editor/output-jobs.adoc[] diff --git a/modules/user-manual/pages/licenses.adoc b/modules/user-manual/pages/licenses.adoc new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7e25c571 --- /dev/null +++ b/modules/user-manual/pages/licenses.adoc @@ -0,0 +1,207 @@ += Licenses + +When creating a new project, LibrePCB allows to specify a license for it. +This chapter gives an overview about the available licenses to help +you deciding which makes most sense for your project. + +First of all, choosing a license is not mandatory. Especially if you don't +intend to make the project public, it's totally fine to skip the license +selection. However, for projects made public it's highly recommended to +specify a license to let other people know what they are allowed or not +allowed to do with your project. Theoretically you could write your own +license text, but it's recommended to choose one of the already existing, +well-known licenses. + +[IMPORTANT] +==== +**Please always read the full, original license text instead of relying on the +information on this page.** First, this page presents licenses in a very +simplified form without all their details. Second, this documentation is not +approved by a lawyer so it may not be correct. We're not responsible for any +implications caused by incomplete or wrong information on this page. +==== + +== Available Licenses + +The following licenses are provided by LibrePCB (depending on the installed +version): + +[%autowidth,cols=",,,"] +|=== +| License | Permissions | Conditions | Limitations + +| https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/[CC0-1.0] +| +✅ Distribution + +✅ Modification + +✅ Commercial use + +| +| +❌ No liability + +❌ No warranty + + +| https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/[CC-BY-4.0] +| +✅ Distribution + +✅ Modification + +✅ Commercial use + +| +⚠ <> + +| +❌ No liability + +❌ No warranty + + +| https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/[CC-BY-SA-4.0] +| +✅ Distribution + +✅ Modification + +✅ Commercial use + +| +⚠ <> + +⚠ <> + +| +❌ No liability + +❌ No warranty + + +| https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/[CC-BY-NC-4.0] +| +✅ Distribution + +✅ Modification + +| +⚠ <> + +| +❌ No liability + +❌ No warranty + +❌ Non-commercial only + + +| https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/[CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0] +| +✅ Distribution + +✅ Modification + +| +⚠ <> + +⚠ <> + +| +❌ No liability + +❌ No warranty + +❌ Non-commercial only + + +| https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/[CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0] +| +✅ Distribution + +✅ Modification + +| +⚠ <> + +| +❌ No liability + +❌ No warranty + +❌ No derivatives + +❌ Non-commercial only + + +| https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/[CC-BY-ND-4.0] +| +✅ Distribution + +✅ Modification + +✅ Commercial use + +| +⚠ <> + +| +❌ No liability + +❌ No warranty + +❌ No derivatives + + +| https://tapr.org/the-tapr-open-hardware-license/[TAPR-OHL-1.0] +| +✅ Distribution + +✅ Modification + +✅ Commercial use + +| +⚠ <> + +⚠ Document modifications + +⚠ Notify upstream developers + +| +❌ No liability + +❌ No warranty + + +| https://ohwr.org/cern_ohl_p_v2.pdf[CERN-OHL-P-2.0] +(https://ohwr.org/project/cernohl/wikis/faq[FAQ]) +3+^| _TBD_ + +| https://ohwr.org/cern_ohl_w_v2.pdf[CERN-OHL-W-2.0] +(https://ohwr.org/project/cernohl/wikis/faq[FAQ]) +3+^| _TBD_ + +| https://ohwr.org/cern_ohl_s_v2.pdf[CERN-OHL-S-2.0] +(https://ohwr.org/project/cernohl/wikis/faq[FAQ]) +3+^| _TBD_ +|=== + +[[license-attribution]]Requires Attribution:: + You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, + and indicate if changes were made. +[[license-sharealike]]Share-Alike:: + If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute + your contributions under the same license as the original. + + +== Other Licenses + +If you like to use a license not available in LibrePCB, or if you're not sure +yet and want to decide later, just skip the license selection when creating +the project. Then add it manually afterwards as follows: + +1. Close the project in LibrePCB. +2. In the root directory of the project, add a file named `LICENSE.txt` + containing the license terms. +3. Open `README.md` in a text editor and replace this line: + ++ +[source,markdown] +---- +No license set. +---- ++ +by this one: ++ +[source,markdown] +---- +See [LICENSE.txt](LICENSE.txt). +---- + +Or if you want to switch to a different license after you created a new +project, just replace the file `LICENSE.txt` manually. LibrePCB itself does +not provide a tool to change the license of an existing project. + +== Additional Actions + +Note that some licenses may require to perform additional actions to correctly +apply those licenses to a project. This applies mainly to the OHL licenses, +but to be sure please check the license texts. + +[NOTE] +==== +Please help us documenting the additional actions +https://github.com/LibrePCB/librepcb-doc[on GitHub]! +==== + +== Recommendation + +Of course choosing a license is a personal decision and any recommendation +from our side will be subjective. But generally, if you simply don't care +what people will do with your project, or you want to give them maximum +freedom (without any liability or warranty from your side), we think +**CC0-1.0** is a great choice. Or if you want to be more strict and don't +want your project to be used for closed-source products, **CERN-OHL-S-2.0** +should be reasonable. + +== License of Libraries + +Not only projects, but also libraries can be released under a certain +license. However, we think public libraries should be released exclusively +under the **CC0-1.0** license. Any other license would make it too +complicated for other people to create projects using these libraries, +fulfilling all license terms of any used library. + +Thus when creating a new library, CC0-1.0 is the only available option and +all official libraries are published under this license so you can do with +these libraries whatever you want, whether for commercial or non-commercial +use.