Sources: Codecademy, TLDR Legal, and Choose A License

Choosing a License

All projects should have a license, but choosing a license for your project can seem daunting. By breaking it down into simple goals you want to achieve, the process can be much easier! 

First, choose how you want your users to interact with your project. Do you want to preserve your original code in future versions or do you want users to be free in how they modify it? There are two main kinds of licenses to choose from, permissive and copyleft. 

Permissive licenses do not restrict the user from modifying the code or using it how they like. Some popular examples are the MIT license and Apache license. Both of these licenses state the user can modify, distribute, and sublicense the code how they want, and do not require future versions to use the same license. 

Copyleft licenses preserve the original code and protect the creators and users. Some examples of a copyleft license are General Public license (GPL) and Lesser General Public license (LGPL). Both of these licenses allow the users to modify and distribute the code how they like, but require the same license to be used on all future versions and require user protections like install instructions and a change log. 

One license is not better than another, all that matters is that your project has a license and it’s what is best for you. If you are still unsure of which one to choose, try looking at the licenses of similar projects or projects from people like you. 

Why Do You Need a License

Licenses state the rights of you as a creator and of all the people that interact with your code. Without a license, users do not know where you stand on using, modifying, and sharing your work. Attaching a license allows you to have peace of mind your code is being used how you want it to and allows people using your code to have it clearly laid out what they can and cannot do with your work. 

Choosing a License For Your Code’s Documentation

Now that you have a project with a license, you need to apply a license to your documentation as well. Most of the time, it will use the same license you chose for the code by default, but in the case you do not want it to, you can choose any license that you feel applies.

From the blog ALIDA NORDQUIST by alidanordquist and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.