We were just talking about how we could prevent misunderstanding like this in the future. Something like the following might be an idea. Only 1 or 2 would be relevant for most of us. If you are selling things you probably would care more for 2 or 3.
1) WTFPL - (Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License).
WTFPL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This license is compatible with the GPL. The only difference from the next license is that any spin off has to also be 100% open. Means that if you make something that was described in the forums (unless it is marked as GLPFL) and improve it with ie some cool chips etc you need to share your design with anybody who asks. Sure you can sell it but so can anybody else. The Wikipedia makes it sound a bit like a BSD/MIT license. Its not. Its more like a Copyleft GPL. So you can almost “Do what the fuck you want”.
Example “Hey guys what a cool idea I have! Run with it, pimp it up if you want … but you will have to share whatever you change/do with us forever” Nobody Bogarts the joint. It gets passed to the next guy to the song of whales.
2) GLPFL - (General Laser Pointer Forum License) Would be like a BSD license. Take that $50 LPM thread for example. If the OP had said this design is GLPFL then so be it. You could improve that design like crazy with a CPU and code in the privacy of your basement dwelling. You could start selling the design (or stuff it up your butt) without without having to reveal the code and chips that YOU designed. You would have to give due credit and be open with info on stuff you did not design. In this case the stuff people openly worked on in the thread. Calling it a BSD license would be lame since we are not at Berkeley. We are on LPF, hence GLPFL. This motivates people to make spin-offs on ideas and make them better. Often for a profit. Actually Macintosh is a product of this. Steve Jobs (who could not code) just pimped up the FreeBSD OS with a fancy sound and video stack and stuffed it into a shiny box. Sorry hipsters its true! I quote - We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas - 1996 Steve Jobs.
Example “Hey guys what a cool idea I have! Run with it and pimp it up as much as you can. Feel free to sell it or eat it if you want. Don't have to share what you did with us” Theft no … major league Bogarting it can be.
3) MSL (My Shit License) - Rather self explanatory. Take for example the X drivers or Jerry's LPMs. Somebody then reverse engineers their stuff and starts selling the copied boost or a PIC with the same software as that LPM. Most of us have enough decency to not do something like that but there is always that one dick head that does it anyway. LPF could have a hall of shame page with booted wankers and products that break a MSL. A MSL would be the default for goods sold that have never had their designs/diagrams shared with the public. If you got to reverse engineer it or need to buy a physical product to make your own copy you know your breaking this.
Example “This is my shit you thief!”
This is just some random ideas and a rant. If you are still reading this it at least gave you something to read while taking a dump. Any input would be welcome
All the best
Onryo
Onryo
