Licenses

On Sat, May 26, 2001 at 05:31:27PM +1000, Manuel M. T. Chakravarty wrote:

"Simon Marlow" wrote,

...

- License: I'd prefer to specify a BSD-style (without advertising clause) license, with copyright on individual files remaining with the authors. GPL code creates particular problems for us here, so I'm keen to avoid it if possible.

I don't think that it is a good idea to specify a license. For example, I am convinced that the (L)GPL is the better licence for the community. ...

I'm a big fan of the GPL; however, you must know that picking the GPL for a library (particularly a standard library) is a very political act. Even the FSF only does this occasionally. The LGPL seems less controversial to me, and would be my choice. (But I'm not the one to choose, and I will be happy as long as the libraries are free (libre).) I also think that a standard license for the standard libraries is important. With every new license that gets involved in a project, I have to make a decision; I'd rather make that decision just once, when I decide to use Haskell. [Apologies if this starts a big licensing discussion. I think this is one of the very few times it is appropriate; I believe these issues are important.] Best, Dylan Thurston