[Feature] Migrate LibSerial License from LGPL to more permissive license.
mcsauder opened this issue · 2 comments
Hi CrayzeeWulf and libserial contributors, (@wedesoft, @tpetazzoni, @ffontaine),
I would like to propose migrating LibSerial to a more permissive license. The rationale behind this proposal is to promote more widespread adaption at a commercial level to also facilitate more widespread contribution back into this library.
It is my opinion that the library may achieve a broader user base if the license is migrated to a commercially permissive license, and I would propose focusing primarily on one of the following license options: 1) the BSD 2-Clause license, 2) the BSD 3-Clause, 3) the MIT license, or 4) Apache-2.
While the LGPL is not unfriendly to commercial usage, there remains much concern in the business realm to allow the usage of any code that is GPL-related, which unfortunately also includes the LGPL. This is due to the (intended) copy-left nature of the GPL, and the related nature of the LGPL.
While I do understand the intentions behind the GPL and remain supportive of that initiative, commercial users are often important contributors to many open source projects under more permissive licenses.
I am creating this issue to facilitate and archive discussion regarding the effects and opinions regarding a license change of this library.
To anyone watching LibSerial with an opinion to share, please share your thoughts!
Thanks!
-Mark
Mark:
Thanks for initiating this conversation. As I commented in #107, it will be good to move LibSerial to a more permissive license. After looking through the various licenses, I am personally leaning towards BSD 3-Clause mainly due to the non-endorsement clause included with it. The four licenses in order of my preference (high to low):
- BSD 3-Clause
- BSD 2-Clause
- MIT
- Apache-2
Of course, additional discussion with the rest of the developers might change my mind but I wanted to kick things off with my list.