Toolserver:Toollizenz/draft/en

DRAFT

Because the spirit of free licenses was very sucessfull for all wikimedia-projects, the tools at the toolserver are free too. This way it is much more easy to develop together and it is easier (and possible) to takeover a tool after its original author left the toolserver.

Rules

 * Every sourcecode is license under GPL2* by default, if it is possible in any way. If it is not possible, because you use an free libery that make it impossible, the source is under license of the libery.
 * Every sourcecode can be under any number of additional licenses (like BSD for example ).
 * Academically projects can be except from this.

How to do
The license(s) under that a tool is/are, should be named at the beginn of our sourcecode (in a comment-block or something). If there is no such information, the sourcecode is GPL2*. If the tool is a academically project and is not under a free license, it must be written at the beginnof the source-code.

Transition Rules
Because many tools are not under free licenses at the moment (August 2009), there are the following transition rules:
 * All tools, that are written after 1. September be subject to above rules.
 * All multi-maintainer- and stable-projects that are written after 1. September be subject to above rules.
 * All tools by a user whose account was accept after 1. September be subject to above rules.
 * All tools by a user whose account is still active after 1. December (next account-renew-date) be subject to above rules.
 * All tools by a user whose account became inactive before 1. December are not subject to above rules (a tool can be free of corse if the user leave a hint in the source-code).

* GPL2 or any OSI-approved license that is GPL compatible, see enWP.
 * Footnotes