diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'docs')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/designdecisions.rst | 70 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/hackinghowto.rst | 25 |
2 files changed, 70 insertions, 25 deletions
diff --git a/docs/designdecisions.rst b/docs/designdecisions.rst index b5992fc1..62a529ff 100644 --- a/docs/designdecisions.rst +++ b/docs/designdecisions.rst @@ -167,3 +167,73 @@ Will Kahn-Greene on "Why Sphinx": There are other doc systems out there, but given that GNU MediaGoblin is being written in Python, it makes sense to use Sphinx for now. + + +Why AGPLv3 and CC0? +=================== + +Chris, Brett, Will, Rob, Matt, et al curated into a story where +everyone is the hero by Will on "Why AGPLv3 and CC0": + + The `AGPL v3`_ preserves the freedoms guaranteed by the GPL v3 in + the context of software as a service. Using this license ensures + that users of the service have the ability to examine the source, + deploy their own instance, and implement their own version. This + is really important to us and a core mission component of this + project. Thus we decided that the software parts should be under + this license. + + However, the project is made up of more than just software: + there's CSS, images, and other output-related things. We wanted + the templates/images/css side of the project all permissive and + permissive in the same absolutely permissive way. We're licensing + these under a CC0 license. + + That brings us to the templates where there's some code and some + output. We decided the templates are part of the output of the + software and not the software itself. We wanted the output of the + software to be licensed in a hassle-free way so that when someone + deploys their own GNU MediaGoblin instance with their own + templates, they don't have to deal with the copyleft aspects of + the AGPLv3 and we'd be fine with that because the changes they're + making are identity-related. So at first we decided to license + HTML templates (written in Jinja2) under a CC0 license and then + we'd add an exception to the AGPLv3 for the software such that the + templates can make calls into the software and yet be a separately + licensed work. However, Brett brought up the question of whether + this allows some unscrupulous person to make changes to the + software through the templates in such a way that they're not + bound by the AGPLv3: i.e. a loophole. We thought about this + loophole and between this and the extra legalese involved in + releasing the templates under a CC0 license with the exception to + the AGPLv3 for Python and JavaScript, we decided that it's just + way simpler if the templates were also licensed under the AGPLv3. + + Then we have the licensing for the documentation. Given that the + documentation is tied to the software content-wise, we don't feel + like we have to worry about ensuring freedom of the documentation + or worry about attribution concerns. Thus we're licensing the + documentation under a CC0 license as well. + + Lastly, we have branding. This covers logos and other things that + are distinctive to GNU MediaGoblin that we feel represents this + project. Since we don't currently have any branding, this is an + open issue, but we're thinking we'll go with a CC BY-SA license. + + By licensing in this way, we make sure that users of the software + receive the freedoms that the AGPLv3 ensures regardless of what + fate befalls this project. + + So to summarize: + + * software (Python, JavaScript, HTML templates) is licensed + under AGPLv3 + * non-software things (CSS, images, video) are licensed under CC0 + because this is output of the software + * documentation is licensed under a CC0 license + * we'll figure out licensing for branding assets later + + This is all codified in the ``COPYING`` file. + +.. _AGPL v3: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html +.. _CC0 v1: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ diff --git a/docs/hackinghowto.rst b/docs/hackinghowto.rst index db8ddca6..96a7e1a4 100644 --- a/docs/hackinghowto.rst +++ b/docs/hackinghowto.rst @@ -99,31 +99,6 @@ Run:: ./bin/nosetests -Creating a new file -=================== - -FIXME - this needs to be updated when it's set in stone. - -All new files need to have license/copyright information. - -The following kinds of files get the GNU AGPL header: - -* Python files -* JavaScript files -* templates -* other files with code in them - -The following files get a CC BY header: - -* CSS files - -The following files don't get a header because that's hard, but are -under the CC BY license: - -* image files -* video files - - Quickstart for Django programmers ================================= |