IN PROGRESS

Overview

This page is dedicated to discussions from mail archives on license-discuss or license-review regarding not approved licenses.

Work-in-progress. Links and comments, as retrieved from various older archives, to be picked and used later in a better format.

This is not a list of rejected licenses. These are all licenses, submitted or not even submitted to OSI, but discussed in the mailing lists archives, which are not approved.

Some have been sent back for modification and not resubmitted by drafters/proposers. Some have been discussed because questions were asked about them, by anyone, but they were never submitted to OSI officially. Some have concerns brought out in the linked discussion threads, regarding their compliance with the OSD. Some have been submitted for approval, and lateral issues have been raised, such as not enough novelty. Links to discussions below may also include concerns that are addressed in subsequent version of the license.

The discussion threads sometimes show recurrent misunderstandings of the OSD or policy choices.

Start tag [Not submitted] marks the licenses that have not been submitted but discussed due to a question on mailing lists.

Not approved licenses

• InterBase Public License V1.0 (IPL) - Discussion. MPL 1.1 name variant, it seems.
• Initial Developer's Public License (IDPL) - Discussion. MPL 1.1 name variant.
• X-Oz license - Discussion.
• Open Project Public License (OPPL) - Discussion.
• Source Distribution License - Discussion.
• LAB Public License - Discussion.
• The Wilhelm Svenselius Open Source License 1.0 (the “WSOSL”) - Submission. BSD derivative with GPL-like provisions. The draft seems to exclude mere aggregation, and to forbid any monetary charge.
• AT&T Source Code agreement - Discussion.
• Pixelglow Source license RFD - requirement to register
• rtx-2000 open software license - Submission.
• Open Test License 1.1 - submission and restrictions on use. Thread.
• Open Game Source License - initial submission. Non-commercial distribution.
• Bento Poetic License (BPL) - (Re)submission, Back for reconsideration; based on Artistic; trademark↔copyright for control of the name
• Simplified Artistic License (eNetwizard Content Application Server) - Initial submission. thread; based on Artistic; “You may not charge a fee for this Package itself.” is a point of contention. Moral rights, authorship and artistic control. Draft. Request for approval
• Open Methodology License (OML) - discussion. Considered not within copyright scope.
• Jaluna Public License - submission, MPL1.1 with names changed.
• $SOMELICENSENAME License - Draft discussion. BSD variant without parameters.
• TLF Open Software Licence - BSD variant with Australian warranty law changes.
• No Warranty License - submission, concerns on discrimination against users in jurisdictions with unwaivable warranties. resubmission
• Expiring No-Resale License (ENRL) - Request for approval. Time-based proprietary to open source conversion. Re-submitted based on the same idea.
• Rensselaer Scorec Public License - Initial request. Updated.
• The Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) - Submission. Name variant of JOSL.
• Public Artist License (PAL) - Text. Keeps control over derivatives.
• Public Security Interest “PSI” License - For Approval: Public Security Interrest "PSI" License. GPL derivative with some restrictions for use the licensor deems unaligned with their concept of “security”.
• JBind license - Discussion. Forbids commercial distribution.
• [ANONYMOUS.1] license - Submission.
• CC-BY-NC - Submission thread.
• CC-BY and CC-BY-SA - Discussion.
• Open Source Software Alliance License (OSSAL) - Discussion. A license started from BSD as template, with added conditions to disallow redistribution under GPL and disallow distribution of derivatives under GPL. Full thread. OSD#5 needs a patch?
• Bixoft Public License (BXAPL) - Request for comments. Discussion.
• HAL - For Approval: HAL, Hermes Attribution License. Commercial use discrimination.
• Panda 3D license - For Approval: Panda3D Public License Version 1.0. Uses Apple license as template. Requirement to send modifications to licensor.
• Linisys Open Source License v1.4 - Request for approval.
• Simple Permissive License (SPL) - Proposal.
• SHPTrans license - Draft. Copyleft drafted with simplicity. Withdrawn.
• Praetor Kernel Module Open Source 1.0 - Submission
• Duemetri Public License (DPL) 1.0 - Submission. Distribute derivatives as patches. Revision 1.1.
• NauSite Public License - Submission.
• OpenMap Software License - Submission. Artistic template.
• CopyBack license Draft. Requirement to send modifications to licensor (including private).
• ACE license Discussion. Deferred.
• Australian Public Licence B (OZPLB) - Initial submission, Resubmission.
• Open Vendor Public License (OVPL) - Built-in broad license to the initial licensor, on CDDL template.
  • Approval thread, discussion, former thread.
  • "Mergeability" (two codebases under OVPL are incompatible).
  • OVPL and open ownership.
  • not approved, proliferation concerns. Process concerns.
  • OSD #3 compliance rediscussed. License to ID is for all derivatives/modifications, not submissions. Also, it covers modifications given to one [other]. “Otherwise made available” is intended here to convey “ASP loophole”.
  • Summaries. #1, #2, #3, #4.
• Cubic - Proposed for a PHP application. Requirement to disclose modifications to anyone requesting. Asks license for APIs. Forbids obfuscated distribution.
• Kannel - Name change of AL.
• Manatee license - Initial request.
• EPD Core Open Source License - Version 0.1 - Request.
• Mighty and Beastie Licenses - Generic variant of BSD
• Open Realty - Report.
• Generic Attribution Provision (GAP) - templated badge requirement. Information. Discussion, and some. Comparison with AAL. Withdrawn by submitter.
• [Not submitted] CPOL 1.02 - Question Regarding CPOL 1.02. Forbids use for any purpose. Broad indemnification.
• [Pending, update not yet approved] CNRI license for Python 1.6.1 - FOR APPROVAL: The CNRI License Agreement for Python 1.6.1
• Openbravo Public License (OBPL) - Request for discussion.
• Visualization Toolkit (VTK) license - License approval for VTK (Visualization Toolkit). Close variant of BSD/MIT/zlib licenses. VTK is currently using BSD 3-clause.
• [Not submitted] EPICS license agreement - Somewhat unclear.
• [Not submitted] Free Island License - Draft discussion. A strong copyleft without practical relicensing of derivatives; attempt to extend to any software interaction; use of a test to determine success (practical issues).
• iSEEEULA-1.0 - Submission thread. Forbids redistribution; seems to forbid distribution combined with copylefts.
• “Forget Me Not” - Evolution of the idea into a project. Submission.
• [Not submitted] Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL-1.1) - CDDL 1.1 questions.
• Svoboda - Approval thread, unconditional license. Proliferation concerns. Seems intended to deny/bypass copyright.
• No Nonsense Open Source License - Submission thread. BSD 3-clause template. Forbids selling the original work.
• APL AROS Public License - Legacy approval. MPL 1.1 with name changes.
• Modular Open-source Software License (MOSL) - Draft submission. Based on BSD/Sleepycat, reusable. Re-submission. Concerns on OSD #9.
• BSD-based anti-patent license - Submission.
• The Freedom Transfer License v1.0 - Submission. Discussion. Requires software to not be sold.
• [Not submitted] Microsoft shared source - Quick analysis.
• Minimal Library License (MLL) - Request. MIT if included in a GPL work or BSD 3-clause otherwise. Interpretation of GPLv3 7(2) vs BSD.
• Common Precertification Development and Distribution License (“CPDDL”) - Submission. Time-limited non-commercial use only, conditioned by a certification mechanism. CDDL derivative.
• [Not submitted] Beerware license - Question.
• Socialtext Public License (“STPL”) - Submission. MPL 1.1 derivative, with AAL-based attribution display, and Affero clause. Withdrawn by submitter.
• [Not submitted] - An attribution/share-alike license based on MIT template with added Sleepycat copyleft condition. Intended as code-based (file-based) keeping modifications open. Sublicensing concern; sublicensing is conditioned. Results of combining code under permissive and this copyleft in a single file. MPL type of scope (perhaps less than MPL).
• Free RewardRights License - Based on GPLv3 draft. Pay for some commercial users. Additional permission to combine with proprietary presentational elements. Attempted compatibility with CC licenses. Magical relicensing to GPLv2.
• Politics-Free License - Submission. Copyleft, drafted after GPL. Intent to define and apply derivative works more clearly to Python ecosystem.
• Near Public Domain license - Discussion. Unconditional MIT.
• Open Source Hardware - Proposal. Involvement in Open Source hardware. Withdrawn.
• [Not submitted] HL7 standards discussion. Derivative works of a standard.
• Universal Public License Agreement - Submission. Forbids redistribution. Requires signing to be effective.
• [Not submitted] Akshar License 1.0 - Started development, Apache 2.0 derivative. Book-keeping clause. Patent license. Draft discussion.
• Open Source Eventually License - Call for discussion. Time-limited proprietary.
• [Not submitted] Endorsement clause - BSD template with endorsement clause. Requires contact with licensor to report statistics.
• [Not submitted] BeansBooks Public License v1.0 - Discussion. Use of trademarks apparently requiring separate license for commercial use. Built-in maximal CLA, potentially wider than intended.
• [Not submitted] Figaro Software License - BSD with extra-clause.
• TrueCrypt License - Concerns.
• [Not submitted] Open CASCADE Technology Public License - Questioned.
• Æsthetic Permissive License - Proposal. Submitter asked to reconsider the license name. (Report)
• Do Whatever You Want To With It Public License - Discussion. Apparent copyleft wording (for first downstream).
• CodeIgniter License Agreement - Submitted for legacy approval. Broad indemnity clause.
• netX Public License - Discussion. Requirement to submit changes to the licensor's website.
• Simple & Short Copyleft Licence (SSCL) - Submission.
• Chicken Dance License (CDL) - Discussion. BSD unchanged, with added joke clauses. Concerns of discrimination of the performers of chicken dance, and lone, independent developers.
• Anonymous Hero Public License - Submission. Forbids licensee to attribute to author.
• UOML_License - Request for approval. Requires the work to conform to UOML and access documents only via UOML. Rejection discussed. Resubmission. Report.
• Open Source Content License (OSCL) - Submission. Intended for wiki content supposed to consist of mostly source code.
• CRIScript Software License 1.0 - Submission. MIT with a provision on no-endorsement for trademarked names, and additions to the disclaimer.
• Iggy Wanna License (IWL) - Request for approval. Sleepycat derivative. Intended for a microkernel, attempts to extend to works accessed through an API. Removes “major components” from Sleepycat aka system library exception in GPL parlance. Consolidated response.
• University Jaume I License - Discussion. Requirement to notify authors when modifying and distributing modified code.
• Soul-Fu License - Request for legacy approval. Freeware. Invariant documentation. Requires derivatives to keep/improve particular software features.
• RTEMS License - Review request. GPLv2 with additional permissions.
• KnowledgeHives Open Source License - Submission.
• Transitive Grace Period Public Licence, v1.0 - Discussion. Intended as time-limited permissive, and copyleft after, with transitive requirement if the permissive period is used for proprietary works. Drafted as OSL derivative. Recommendation: deferral for at least one year.
• caGrid Open Source License - Submitted for legacy approval.
• WTFPL - WTFPL approval, please?
• Serious Open Source License (SOS) - Request for comments. Uses a provision found in corporate Terms of Use, by which licensee's distributees are intended third party beneficiaries with respect to a condition, here access to the source code. Further argument.
• Creative Commons Universal 1.0 (CC0) - January, February, March 2012. Withholds patents explicitly, and the intent seems to have been to allow patented scientific content to use CC0. Withdrawn.
• ARToolKit license - ARToolKit licence - "non-commercial use" phrase.
• MXM Public License - Text. MPL modified to remove the patent grant, and add a patent covenant for non-commercial use.
• NVIDIA license - Question on use of IBM Public License. CPL was the generic version at the time.
• (Former) Sendmail license - Question on compliance. The license text is no longer online. The current license (2013) does not seem compliant, with non-commercial clause. (“freeware”)
• [Pending] Tidepool Open Access to Health Data Software License - Request for approval.
• Scripting Free Software License (S-FSL) - Initial submission. Re-drafted. Distribution for free only. Requires sending patches upstream. No free distribution of derivatives. Patents withheld.
• [Pending] NASA Open Source Agreement (NOSA) 2.0 - Request for approval. Further discussion.
• Public Software License - Request for approval. Detailed limitation of liability and warranty disclaimers. Concerns of proliferation and jurisdiction specificity. Suggested to add desired disclaimers simply at the end of an existing license text.
• Russian Permissive Free Software License - Submission. Concerns on the clarity of English text.
• Universal Permissive License (UPL) - Request for approval. MIT derivative with patent grant, and an added target for copyright and patent grant, one or more projects (larger works) specified in a separate file. Intented as CLA minus paperwork, for reference implementations. Concerns over the added clause restricting the rights to the specified larger work. Over-broad intended scope of the patent grant.
• VR share license - Initial submission. Attempts to apply to any work of authorship. Apparently templated.
• MIT with patent grant - Call for discussion.
• Unconditional license - Call for discussion.
• Illumina Open Source license - Question.
• Master-Console's Open-Source Definitive License(MCopdl) - full thread, discussion moved to license-discuss.
• Cryptographic Autonomy License 1.0-Beta - Rationale document
• Vaccine License - Rationale document
• CasperLabs Open Source License -Submission. Comments on license-review that license failed to meet the OSD for several reasons; submitter was non-responsive. License deemed withdrawn.