mirror of
https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com
synced 2024-12-22 04:40:09 +01:00
107 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
107 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
# Choosealicense.com
|
|
|
|
[](https://travis-ci.org/github/choosealicense.com)
|
|
|
|
Like a Choose Your Own Adventure site, but only much less interesting.
|
|
|
|
## Intro
|
|
|
|
A lot of repositories on GitHub.com don't have a license. GitHub provides a license chooser, but if you don't know anything about licenses, how are you supposed to make an informed decision?
|
|
|
|
[ChooseALicense.com](http://www.choosealicense.com "Choose A Licence website") is designed to help people make an informed decision about licenses by demystifying license choices through non-judgmental guidance.
|
|
|
|
## Immediate Goals
|
|
|
|
* Non-judgmental. Our goal is to help you find a license that meets *your* goals.
|
|
* Well designed, but that goes without saying.
|
|
* The homepage should have just enough to help 99% of folks make a decision.
|
|
* For the 1%, the site will contain a list of licenses common to specific communities and situations.
|
|
* Not comprehensive. Seems like an odd goal, but there are a bajillion licenses out there. We're going to have to filter that down to a small list of those that matter.
|
|
|
|
## Run It On Your Machine
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
git clone https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com.git
|
|
cd choosealicense.com
|
|
script/bootstrap
|
|
script/server
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Open `http://localhost:4000` in your favorite browser.
|
|
|
|
## Adding a license
|
|
|
|
For information on adding a license, see [the CONTRIBUTING file](https://github.com/github/choosealicense.com/blob/gh-pages/CONTRIBUTING.md#adding-a-license).
|
|
|
|
## License metadata
|
|
|
|
Licenses sit in the `/_licenses` folder. Each license has YAML front matter describing the license's properties. The body of the file contains the text of the license in plain text. The available metadata fields are:
|
|
|
|
#### Required fields
|
|
|
|
* `title` - The SPDX-compliant, human-readable license name
|
|
* `source` - The URL to the license source text
|
|
* `description` - A human-readable description of the license
|
|
* `how` - Instructions on how to implement the license
|
|
* `required` - Bulleted list of required rules
|
|
* `permitted` - Bulleted list of permitted rules
|
|
* `forbidden` - Bulleted list of forbidden rules
|
|
|
|
#### Optional fields
|
|
|
|
* `note` - Additional information about the licenses
|
|
* `using` - A list of notable projects using the license in the form of `project_name: "url"`
|
|
* `hidden` - Whether the license is hidden from the license list (defaults to true)
|
|
* `redirect_from` - Relative path(s) to redirect to the license from, to prevent breaking old URLs
|
|
* `featured` - Whether the license should be featured on the main page (defaults to false)
|
|
* `nickname` - A shorter, human-readable license name where the SPDX license name (`title` above) is long
|
|
* `variant` - Whether the license is a variant of a family of licenses (defaults to false)
|
|
* `family` - If part of a license family, the name of the license family (e.g., `GPL`)
|
|
|
|
### Auto-populated fields
|
|
|
|
The licenses on choosealicense.com are regularly imported to GitHub.com to be used as the list of licenses available when creating a repository. When we create a repository, we will replace certain strings in the license with variables from the repository. These can be used to create accurate copyright notices. The available variables are:
|
|
|
|
#### Fields
|
|
|
|
* `fullname` - The full name or username of the repository owner
|
|
* `login` - The repository owner's username
|
|
* `email` - The repository owner's primary email address
|
|
* `project` - The repository name
|
|
* `description` - The description of the repository
|
|
* `year` - The current year
|
|
|
|
## License properties
|
|
|
|
The license properties (rules) are stored as a bulleted list within the licenses YAML front matter. Each rule has a name e.g., `include-copyright`, a human-readable label, e.g., `Copyright inclusion`, and a description `Include the original copyright with the code`. To add a new rule, simply add it to `_data/rules.yml` and reference it in the appropriate license.
|
|
|
|
### Rules
|
|
|
|
#### Required
|
|
|
|
* `include-copyright` - Include a copy of the license and copyright notice with the code.
|
|
* `document-changes` - Indicate significant changes made to the code.
|
|
* `disclose-source` - Source code must be made available when distributing the software.
|
|
* `network-use-disclose` - Users who interact with the software via network are given the right to receive a copy of the corresponding source code.
|
|
* `rename` - You must change the name of the software if you modify it.
|
|
* `same-license` - Modifications must be released under the same license when distributing the software. In some cases a similar or related license may be used.
|
|
|
|
#### Permitted
|
|
|
|
* `commercial-use` - This software and derivatives may be used for commercial purposes.
|
|
* `modifications` - This software may be modified.
|
|
* `distribution` - You may distribute this software.
|
|
* `private-use` - You may use and modify the software without distributing it.
|
|
* `patent-use` - This license provides an express grant of patent rights from the contributor to the recipient.
|
|
|
|
#### Forbidden
|
|
|
|
* `trademark-use` - While this may be implicitly true of all licenses, this license explicitly states that it does NOT grant you any rights in the trademarks or other marks of contributors.
|
|
* `no-liability` - Software is provided without warranty and the software author/license owner cannot be held liable for damages.
|
|
* `modifications` - This software may not be modified.
|
|
* `distribution` - You may not distribute this software.
|
|
|
|
## License
|
|
|
|
The content of this project itself is licensed under the [Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en_US), and the underlying source code used to format and display that content is licensed under the [MIT license](http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php).
|