Specifications

CHAPTER 7. OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY 64
7.1 Licenses
All FOSS projects are released under the terms of a FOSS license. Both the free software
movement and open source software movement have a list of approved licenses which they
consider to match with their attitudes. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) provides a list
of the qualified free software licenses in [Fsf04b]. A list of software licenses approved by the
Open Source Initiative (OSI) is found in [OSS04].
Choosing an appropriate software license for a project is very important. All licensees of
a software have to abide to the terms and conditions determined by the software’s license.
Companies are revising licenses precisely before deciding whether a certain software is used
or not. This is required since a software’s license determines how a licensee has to handle
modifications and contributions to the software as well as the actual usage of the software.
For example, software which is released under a license which is compatible with the GNU
General Public License (GPL) require the licensees to release modifications of the software, if
any. Other licenses, such as the BSD license, enable the licensee to use and modify the software
without releasing the modifications to the public.
To understand the meaning of the different kinds of licenses [Lau04] is a worthwhile book
which discusses several free and open source licenses in a human-readable form. The book also
describes different models of open source and free software development and how to choose the
right license.
The Input Abstraction Layer is released under the terms of two licenses. The decision of
releasing the software under two different licenses enables the licensee to choose under which
conditions he is actually using the software. All parts of the Input Abstraction Layer are
released under either of the following two licenses:
– GNU General Public License Version 2
– The Academic Free License Version 2.1
Dual licensing of the source code provides open and free access to the Input Abstraction
Layer for both the free software community and developers or companies that cannot use
the GPL [Fsf91]. The actual choice of the license is up to the licensee. If a licensee is able
to publish modifications made to the Input Abstraction Layer, using the software under the
terms of the GPL is reasonable. The GPL is accepted as a free software license by the Free
Software Foundation, as well as it is accepted as an open source license by the Open Source
Initiative.
Beside using the Input Abstraction Layer under the terms of the GPL, the licensee is free
to use the Input Abstraction Layer under the terms of the Academic Free License [Ros04].
This license allows the usage and modification of the Input Abstraction Layer without the
need to publish the changes. The Academic Free License includes a section (Paragraph 10)
which determines that the license terminates once a licensee is suing the licensor for patent
infringement:
10) Termination for Patent Action. This License shall terminate automatically and
You may no longer exercise any of the rights granted to You by this License as of
the date You commence an action, including a cross-claim or counterclaim, against
Licensor or any licensee alleging that the Original Work infringes a patent. This
termination provision shall not apply for an action alleging patent infringement by
combinations of the Original Work with other software or hardware [Ros04].