Re: [boost] Boost licensing information

Subject: Re: [boost] Boost licensing information
From: Gavin Lambert (gavinl_at_[hidden])
Date: 2017-04-13 00:33:17

On 13/04/2017 11:15, Stefan Seefeld wrote:
> It might be a good idea to collect such bits of wisdom in a common place
> (such as the wiki). A good starting point: a list of widely known Free
> Software licenses, annotated to indicate whether they meet the
> requirements in
> http://www.boost.org/development/requirements.html#License (with
> explicit references to the clause they don't meet if applicable).

The BSL is generally more permissive than the other popular licenses (in 
particular placing no obligation of attribution or source-sharing on 
distribution in binary form); that's typically where the conflicts lie.

To most users of the Boost libraries, it doesn't make any difference 
either way -- they either distribute the libraries in compiled form, 
which the BSL permits without complications, or they distribute their 
own library/application in source form typically without redistributing 
the Boost libraries themselves (instead just telling people where to 
find them or expecting that they'll be able to find them themselves).

The latter approach might technically get them in trouble with their own 
licenses (eg. if they're using GPL) but most people don't worry about 
that either.