Some wordiness reduction and grammar fixes

about.md

@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ title: "What's this about?"
 
 GitHub wants to help developers choose an open source license for their source code.
 
-If you already know what you're doing and have a license you prefer to use, that's great! We're not here to change your mind. But if you are bewildered by the large number of open source license choices, maybe we can help.
+If you already know what you're doing and have a license you prefer to use, that's great! We're not here to change your mind. But if you are bewildered by the large number of choices, maybe we can help.
 
 ## Not comprehensive
 
-This site is not a comprehensive directory of open source licenses. On the [homepage](/), we break it down into just two licenses. The vast majority of projects will likely be fine choosing from one of these two. Just in case you have specific needs not covered by those two, we also highlight a [few other licenses to consider](/licenses/), and have a page about [licenses for non-software projects](/non-software/).
+This site is not a comprehensive directory of open source licenses. On the [homepage](/), we break it down into just two licenses — the [MIT License](https://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/) and the [GNU GPLv3](https://choosealicense.com/licenses/gpl-3.0/). The vast majority of projects will likely be perfectly safe choosing from one of these two. Just in case you have specific needs not covered by these, we also highlight a [few other licenses to consider](/licenses/) and have a page about [licenses for non-software projects](/non-software/).
 
-See our [appendix](/appendix/) for a table of all of the licenses cataloged in the choosealicense.com repository and the links below for *even more licenses* that you **do not** need to learn about when choosing a license for your project.
+See our [appendix](/appendix/) for a table of every license cataloged in the [choosealicense.com repository](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com) and the links below for *even more* licenses that you **do not** need to learn about to still choose a great license for your project.
 
 ### Additional resources
 
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ See our [appendix](/appendix/) for a table of all of the licenses cataloged in t
 
 ## Help us improve it
 
-Choosealicense.com isn't just about open source, the site itself is open source as well. See something you think could be done better? Feel free to [fork the project](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com) on GitHub and submit a pull request. We'd welcome your improvements.
+Choosealicense.com isn't just about open source; the site itself is open source as well. See something you think could be done better? Feel free to [fork the project](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com) on GitHub and submit a pull request. We welcome your improvements.
 
 ## Disclaimer
 
-We are not lawyers. Well, most of us anyway. It is not the goal of this site to provide legal advice. The goal of this site is to provide a starting point to help you make an informed choice by providing information on popular open source licenses. If you have any questions regarding the right license for your code or any other legal issues relating to it, it's up to you to do further research or consult with a professional.
+We are not lawyers. Well, most of us anyway. It is not the goal of this site to provide legal advice. The goal of this site is to provide a starting point to help you make an informed choice by providing information on popular open source licenses in a simplified fashion. If you have any questions regarding the best license for your code or any other legal issues relating to it, it's your responsibility to do further research or consult with a professional.

appendix.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ title: Appendix
 class: license-types
 ---
 
-For reference, all licenses described in the choosealicense.com [repository](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com), in a table.
+For reference, here is a neat table of every license described in the [choosealicense.com repository](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com).
 
 If you're here to choose a license, **[start from the home page](/)** to see a few licenses that will work for most cases.
 
@@ -61,11 +61,11 @@ If you're here to choose a license, **[start from the home page](/)** to see a f
 
 ## Legend
 
-<p>Open source licenses grant to the public <span class="license-permissions"><span class="license-sprite"></span></span> <b>permissions</b> to do things with licensed works copyright or other "intellectual property" laws might otherwise disallow.</p>
+<p>Open source licenses grant to the public <span class="license-permissions"><span class="license-sprite"></span></span> <b>permissions</b> to do things with licensed works which copyright or other "intellectual property" laws might otherwise disallow.</p>
 
 <p>Most open source licenses' grants of permissions are subject to compliance with <span class="license-conditions"><span class="license-sprite"></span></span> <b>conditions</b>.</p>
 
-<p>Most open source licenses also have <span class="license-limitations"><span class="license-sprite"></span></span> <b>limitations</b> that usually disclaim warranty and liability and sometimes expressly exclude patent or trademark from licenses' grants.</p>
+<p>Most open source licenses also have <span class="license-limitations"><span class="license-sprite"></span></span> <b>limitations</b> that usually disclaim warranty and liability, and sometimes expressly exclude patents or trademarks from licenses' grants.</p>
 
 <dl>
 {% assign seen_tags = '' %}

community.md

@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ redirect_from: /existing/
 title: Existing projects and communities
 ---
 
-If you're contributing to or extending an existing project, it's almost always easiest to continue using that project's license. Look for a file called `LICENSE` or `COPYING`, or a notice in the project's `README` to find out what that license is. If you can't find a license, [ask](/no-permission/#for-users).
+If you're contributing to or extending an existing project, it's almost always easiest to continue using that project's license. To find its license, look for a file called `LICENSE` or `COPYING`, or skim the project's `README`. If you can't find a license, [ask the maintainers](/no-permission/#for-users).
 
-Depending on how you're building on an existing project and what its license is, using the existing project's license for your own might not just be the easiest thing to do, but a condition on which your permission to build on the existing project rests: see the "same license" condition of [some licenses](/licenses/).
+Depending on the original project's license, using the same license might be a requirement, not just the easiest thing to do. (See the "same license" condition of [some licenses](/licenses/).)
 
-Some communities have strong preferences for particular licenses. If you want to participate in one of these, it will be easier to use the preferred license even if you're starting a brand new project with no existing dependencies. Examples:
+Some communities have strong preferences for particular licenses. If you want to participate in one of these, it will be easier to use their preferred license, even if you're starting a brand new project with no existing dependencies. Some examples include:
 
 {: .bullets}
 
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@ Some communities have strong preferences for particular licenses. If you want to
 * [Rust](https://rust-lang-nursery.github.io/api-guidelines/necessities.html#crate-and-its-dependencies-have-a-permissive-license-c-permissive) crates are overwhelmingly licensed under both [MIT](/licenses/mit/) and [Apache License 2.0](/licenses/apache-2.0/)
 * [WordPress](https://wordpress.org/about/license/) plugins and themes must be [GNU GPLv2](/licenses/gpl-2.0/) (or later)
 
-Communities come in all shapes and sizes, and more than one might be pertinent (e.g., [your company](https://opensource.guide/legal/#what-does-my-companys-legal-team-need-to-know)). The examples above are *very* well established. If the community you see your project as a part of doesn't have set-in-stone licensing traditions, or you don't see your project as part of any particular community, that's just fine: [make your own choice of an open source license](/).
+Communities come in all shapes and sizes, and using more than one license might be pertinent (e.g., [your company](https://opensource.guide/legal/#what-does-my-companys-legal-team-need-to-know)). The examples above are *very* well established. If the community you're building a project for doesn't have set-in-stone licensing traditions, or you don't see your project as part of any particular community, that's fine: [make your own choice of an open source license](/).

index.html

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ permalink: /
       <h3>I want it simple and permissive.</h3>
     </a>
     <p>
-      The <a href="licenses/mit/">MIT License</a> is short and to the point. It lets people do almost anything they want with your project, including to make and distribute closed source versions.
+      The <a href="licenses/mit/">MIT License</a> is short and to the point. It lets people do almost anything they want with your project, like making and distributing closed source versions.
     </p>
     <p>
       {% include using-sentence.html license-id="mit" %}
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ permalink: /
       <h3>I care about sharing improvements.</h3>
     </a>
     <p>
-      The <a href="licenses/gpl-3.0/">GNU GPLv3</a> also lets people do almost anything they want with your project, <em>except</em> to distribute closed source versions.
+      The <a href="licenses/gpl-3.0/">GNU GPLv3</a> also lets people do almost anything they want with your project, <em>except</em> distributing closed source versions.
     </p>
     <p>
       {% include using-sentence.html license-id="gpl-3.0" %}

licenses.html

@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ class: license-types
 title: Licenses
 ---
 
-<p>Open source licenses grant permission to everyone to use, modify, and share licensed software for any purpose, subject to conditions preserving the provenance and openness of the software. The following licenses are arranged from one with the strongest of these conditions (GNU AGPLv3) to one with no conditions (Unlicense). Notice that the popular licenses featured on the <a href="/">home page</a> (GNU GPLv3 and MIT) fall within this spectrum.</p>
-<p style="font-size:small; margin-bottom: 40px">If you were looking for a reference table of all of the licenses on choosealicense.com, see the <a href="/appendix">appendix</a>.</p>
+<p>Open source licenses grant permission for anybody to use, modify, and share licensed software for any purpose, subject to conditions preserving the provenance and openness of the software. The following licenses are sorted by the degree of limitations and conditions, from most (GNU AGPLv3) to none (Unlicense). Notice that the popular licenses featured on the <a href="/">home page</a> (GNU GPLv3 and MIT) fall within this spectrum.</p>
+<p style="font-size:small; margin-bottom: 40px">If you're looking for a reference table of every license on choosealicense.com, see the <a href="/appendix">appendix</a>.</p>
 
 {% include license-overview.html license-id="agpl-3.0" %}
 {% include license-overview.html license-id="gpl-3.0" %}

no-permission.md

@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ When you make a creative work (which includes code), the work is under exclusive
 
 Even in the absence of a license file, you may grant some rights in cases where you publish your source code to a site that requires accepting terms of service. For example, if you publish your source code in a public repository on GitHub, you have accepted the [Terms of Service](https://help.github.com/articles/github-terms-of-service), by which you allow others to view and fork your repository. Others may not need your permission if [limitations and exceptions to copyright](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limitations_and_exceptions_to_copyright) apply to their particular situation. Neither site terms nor jurisdiction-specific copyright limitations are sufficient for the kinds of collaboration that people usually seek on a public code host, such as experimentation, modification, and sharing as fostered by an open source license.
 
-You don't have to do anything to not offer a license. You may however wish to add a copyright notice and statement that you are not offering any license in a prominent place (e.g., your project's README) so that [users](#for-users) don't assume you made an oversight. If you're going to accept others' contributions to your non-licensed project, you may wish to explore with your lawyer adding a contributor agreement to your project so that you maintain copyright permission from contributors, even though you're not granting the same.
+You don't have to do anything to *not* offer a license. You may, however, wish to add a copyright notice and statement that you are not offering any license in a prominent place (e.g., your project's README) so that [users](#for-users) don't assume you made an oversight. If you're going to accept others' contributions to your non-licensed project, you may wish to explore adding a contributor agreement to your project with your lawyer so that you maintain copyright permission from contributors, even though you're not granting the same.
 
-Disallowing use of your code might not be what you intend by "no license." An [open-source license](/) allows reuse of your code while retaining copyright. If your goal is to completely opt-out of copyright restrictions, try a [public domain dedication](/licenses/#unlicense).
+Disallowing use of your code might not be what you intend by "no license." An [open source license](/) allows reuse of your code while retaining copyright. If your goal is to completely opt-out of copyright restrictions, try a [public domain dedication](/licenses/#unlicense) instead.
 
 ## For users
 

non-software.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ layout: default
 permalink: /non-software/
 ---
 
-Open source software licenses can be used for non-software works, and often are the best choice. This is particularly the case when the works in question can be edited and versioned as source, e.g., [open source hardware](https://www.oshwa.org/definition/) designs. Choose an [open source license](/licenses/).
+Open source software licenses can be also used for non-software works and are often the best choice, especially when the works in question can be edited and versioned as source (e.g., [open source hardware](https://www.oshwa.org/definition/) designs). [Choose an open source license here.](/licenses/)
 
 ### Data, media, etc.
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Open source software licenses can be used for non-software works, and often are
 
 ### Documentation
 
-Any open source software license or open license for media (see [above](#data-media-etc)) is applicable to software documentation. If you use different licenses for your software and its documentation, you may wish to take care that source code examples in the documentation are also licensed under the software license.
+Any open source software license or open license for media (see [above](#data-media-etc)) also applies to software documentation. If you use different licenses for your software and its documentation, be sure to specify that source code examples in the documentation are also licensed under the software license.
 
 ### Fonts
 
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@ The [SIL Open Font License 1.1](/licenses/ofl-1.1/) keeps fonts open but allows
 
 ### Mixed Projects
 
-If your project contains a mix of software and other material, you can include multiple licenses, as long as you are explicit about which license applies to what parts of the project.  See [the license notice for this site](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com#license) as an example.
+If your project contains a mix of software and other material, you can include multiple licenses, as long as you are explicit about which license applies to each part of the project. See [the license notice for this site](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com#license) as an example.