Re: [Postgres-xc-general] License of Postgres-XC related documents and contents

[Joshua D. D. <jd...@co...>]

On 07/13/2012 06:27 AM, Mason Sharp wrote:
>
> On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 8:21 PM, Koichi Suzuki <ko...@in...> wrote:
>> Mason is proposing that it's better to license XC contents commercially as well.
>>
>
> I am just saying that anything from the Postgres-XC Development Group
> could be like the PostgreSQL Development Group and allow liberal
> usage. If someone does not want to allow liberal usage, then they put
> it under their own name or company name instead of the Postgres-XC
> Development Group, and under any such license that they choose (is
> that more similar to how PostgreSQL also operates?).  It seems like an
> easy way to avoid disagreements and avoid adding bylaws, committees
> and bureaucracy.
>

Yes, it does keep it simple for the community. However, there are 
perfectly valid arguments for other structures that are also positive. 
For example, if the docs are licensed in a way that allows free sharing 
but not for commercial use, if someone wants to use them commercially 
there could be a defined fee/donation to the community that gets paid. 
That fee can help with things like having testing clusters.

That said, I sit on the fundraising group, the sponsorship committee, 
and am a director for Pg.US and SPI. Meetings are a pain :P

Personally, if I have a vote the license (for Postgres-XC as well but 
let's not start that thread) would not be BSD, but LGPL. The LGPL allows 
people to commercialize the product BUT and here is the big BUT, it 
requires that any changes to the product must also be given back. For 
our docs, that could be a real boon, please use them commercially, 
please sell them, please change them as much as you like but understand 
that you must give all those improvements back to the community as well.

The creative commons has a very similar license:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Sincerely,

jD


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