This is my response to a quiz given for my HFOSS class on the topic of open-source licensing.

In the first 3 Chapters of the SFLC’s FOSS Legal Primer, there was much background information on the types of licenses a FOSS Developer may choose, and why.

• When does a work become “copyrighted” by an Author?

As soon as the idea comes out of the mind and onto a tangible medium. (physical and digital included)

• Without copyright, there could be no copyleft. What are the copyrights that an author has when they create a work, according to the US Copyright office?

Right to sell, reproduce, edit, distribute, and pass permission of any of these things to others.

• Free/Open Source Licenses fall onto a spectrum of Software Freedom. What descriptive words are at either end? restrictive & distributive vs permissive & non-copyleft

• When someone reliquishes their copyrights, this is referred to as what? Waiver

• Below is a list of licenses. Please identify where on the spectrum each falls, and whether or not it is an OSI approved license.

  • GPLv2 : copyleft, OSI
  • BSD : non-copyleft, non-OSI
  • GPLv3 : copyleft, OSI
  • MIT : non-copyleft, permissive, non-OSI
  • AGPLv3+ : copyleft OSI
  • Apache 2.0 : copyleft, OSI
  • LGPL : copyleft, OSI
  • WTFPL : permissive, non-OSI

Bonus:

• True or False: You cannot sell GPL’d software True
• True or False: You can fork a GPL licensed Project and release it under an MIT license? False
• True or False: You can fork a MIT licensed Project and release it under an GPL license? True