I want to ask a recommendation for a license to apply to my open project. How do I ask these sorts of questions?
1 Answer
In order to write a good license recommendation post, you'll need to ask yourself a few questions, so that the community can present you some of the best answers.
What is your project like? What are you trying to license?
Different licenses are intended for different things. As such, you'll need to tell us what you're trying to license. Is it software? Is it hardware? What kind of software? Is it something artistic? Is it something practical? Telling us will allow us to get a feel for the idea and structure behind your project, allowing us to narrow down licenses that are specialized for those situations.
What third-party resources are included in your project?
If you are writing something like software, you may be using other libraries. We'll need to know what these libraries are. Many libraries can have an impact on how you are allowed to license your project, depending on the terms that they dictate. For bonus points, tell us which licenses they use - you did check that before using them, right?
Who's your audience? What do you want them to be able to do with it?
Tell us who your project is aimed for. Who do you want the source to be used by? Are there any freedoms you want to grant? Are there any restrictions you want to place? Remember that as long as your intention is to have something open source, but you later discover that it is no longer possible, that's fine. It is still on-topic, as long as it is clear that you have attempted a try at open source.
Whatever the question may be, always be sure to be clear and specific with your question. Tell us exactly what you want, what you're flexible with, what you're open towards.
Please keep in mind that we're only able to recommend open-source or free software licenses here. As long as you're asking for a recommendation in a bona fide attempt at open source, your question is on-topic. However, if the requirements or restrictions you specify are at odds with the definition of open source or free software, we'll tell you that, but we won't be able to recommend a license for your case. ("Free software" and "open source" in this case are defined by the Free Software Foundation's Four Freedoms and by the Open Source Initiative's Open Source Definition, respectively.)
Have fun choosing a license!