Do What the Fuck You Want to Public License

18 points by osculum 2 years ago | 4 comments
  • DannyB2 2 years ago
    I would prefer a version of the license that did not use fowl language. Fowl language is not suitable for my porpoises.

    Beyond that, it would be nice if the license expressly granted unlimited copyright and patent permissions so that this is not assumed from the brief language of the license.

    A bad actor could try to argue that he did NOT give you patent rights. Nothing in the license said so. You could argue that the license should be interpreted broadly to include that. Thus there is now a legal conflict.

    I would prefer a license that is more explicit in exactly what legal rights it grants.

    This reminds me of the short lived "no license" movement of some years back. If your code doesn't have a license, I'm not going to touch it with a ten foot pole. Nothing give me permission to use it. But you say "I'm giving it to you. I wouldn't sue you. I promise!" How about if you're really such a good guy, putting that promise in writing (it's called a license).

    • myco_logic 2 years ago
      If the WTFPL is a bit too blue for you, you might prefer the Unlicense[0], it's what I tend to reach for when licensing projects these days. Compared to the WTFPL it's a bit more explicit about usage rights (but less explicit word-choice wise), and is basically equivalent in respect to the freedoms it provides. There's also the CC0[1] license, though I tend only to use that one for actual media, and not code.

      I really hope more people will start to use these kind of licenses. Releasing something you made into the public-domain without concern about attribution or copyleft nonsense is, to my mind, one of the noblest things a creative individual can do...

      [0]: https://unlicense.org/

      [1]: https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc...

      • iancmceachern 2 years ago
        I appreciate and respect your comment above.

        I want to point out that your (unintentional I believe) misspellings above make for a pretty funny sentence. "Fowl language is not suitable for my porpoises." It seems as though your dolphins don't like it when you talk about birds. Maybe something to do with the flying.

        • hammyhavoc 2 years ago
          Foul, not fowl.