Software Licensing

Dave's Software Licensing Policy

Generally, software which I make available here has been entirely written by me. This software is made available either under the Don't Worry, Be Happy, Now Go Away license, or the GPL. Each piece of software will specify the license it is made available under.

Don't Worry, Be Happy, Now Go Away

This license is for trivial scripts which do not do anything of real importance. It generally means that I have not spent any significant time on it, and do not expect that anyone anywhere will ever be able to use it to make money. I may be wrong, in which case you are welcome to use it to make yourself beer money. Or even Porche money if you can.

If you have any questions about this license, I advise you to slowly and clearly say the name of the license to yourself until your concerns are answered.

(See also the WTFPL.)

Gnu Public License

This license is is used when I use GPL software as a component in building the software you find here. The idea behind the GPL is that I can take GLP code, use it in my own projects, and then distribute my own project under the GPL. The basic idea is that I will have to share back to the community any modifications that I make to code I get from the community. A lot of people seem to think that this is a communist or anti-capitalist concept. In my opinion, it is just fair -- I will let you use what I make, but there's no way I think it is fair that you can make money off of what I do without some explicit permission and compensation arrangement from me.

You always have the completely legal option of "not using my code" available to you.

The Free Software Foundation has a nifty FAQ on the subject.

Note that I may have GPL'd a piece of software which is wholey owned by me; in which case I, as the author, have the right to license it under different license terms should a fair and appropriate compensation arrangement be reached. If you don't like the GPL but desperately want the software anyways, it doesn't hurt to ask me if that's possible. I'll warn you straight up front that even if I did write everything in a particular program, the likelyhood of such an arrangement is pretty small.