Picking an Open-Source or Source-Available License?
If an open-source project is popular, respected, or well-supported, it most definitely has a license— telling developers what they can and cannot do with the code.
How would you describe your project?
It's Part of an Existing Community.
Each community has its own licenses preferences. We are compiling these preferences but since it isn't ready, we recommend looking at similar projects.
It's Simple and Straightforward.
In terms of simple and permissive licenses, there are three favorites: the Unlicense, the BSD-style licenses, and MIT license.
It's a Mixup of Different Developers.
For projects that want constant additions, the GNU General Public License or Mozilla Public License are probably for you.
Can't find what you're looking for?
I have a license and want to submit it..
If you have written a license and want to submit it to the OpenList, please submit it through our Github Issues page.
My project isn't software, text, or code.
There are a number of licenses that are for art, music, or other creative assets. The most popular are the Creative Commons licenses.
My project needs a completely custom license.
We are currently working on creating a license generator for OpenList, giving you full control of your project.