ShagWare Licenses

ShagWare Licenses

Last Update: July 18, 1999.

There are basically three different sets of terms under which the software on this website is released to the public. The purpose of this page is to present the licenses and to try to clarify the intent of the licenses. All material is copyrighted by the author unless stated otherwise, and most files have headers at the top that clearly state which licensing terms apply.

The full legal terms of all the licenses are available here.

ShagWare General Public License

SOLO, DECO, CParse and SHACC are currently being released to the public under the terms of the ShagWare General Public License (SGPL). This license allows anyone to freely make use of the code for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, as long as its terms are followed. Source code and binary-only redistributions are allowed. The SGPL also contains a provision which allows a user of the code to convert the code over to the GNU Public License (GPL) if necessary.

The licensing terms allow the source code to be mixed with other source code without conflicting with other licensing agreements, and without releasing proprietary source code. Users of the code simply must make it obvious that this code was incorporated, and make the original source code accessible. (which can be as easy as adding a notice and a URL to an accompanying document).

Read the complete terms of the license for more details.

ShagWare Non-profit Public License

ShagOS is currently being released under the terms of the ShagWare Non-profit Public License (SNPL). This license is more restrictive that the SGPL, since it does not allow commercial redistributions (source or binary) of the software. Non-profit redistributions are allowed, however, provided that all of its terms are followed.

It should be noted that fees _can_ be charged for redistributions of code protected by the SNPL, provided that these fees are limited to the nominal cost of shipping and handling. Read the complete terms of the license for more details.

Public Domain

Currently, no software package is being released entirely in the public domain, but some individual files are being released in this manner. Such files clearly say they were released into the public domain. Most (but not all) header files (.h files) are being released into the public domain, since they act as interfaces and need to be freely available to prevent arbitrary incompatibilities. Many of the header files do not clearly state that they are being given to the public domain, but if the file is a header (.h) file and contains no message to the contrary, it may be safely assumed that the file is public domain.

Still Evolving

Every effort has been made to make this software as useful as possible, while still protecting my rights to its ownership. Since every download comes with a license agreement, you may, of course, always use the software under the terms of that license. However, I'm still evolving future forms of the licenses to be more useful. So, if you have any problems with the terms, and wish to suggest a revision, or work out an arrangement for an individual license, please email me and describe your situation, and we'll work something out.

back to my homepage (meet the author)

Frank Barrus / license_removethis@shaggy.cc
people have seen these terms since July 18, 1999.