[odc-discuss] An attribution-only version of the open database license

Wed Nov 18 16:46:21 UTC 2009

Hi,

SteveC wrote:
> With a NC half way house everyone wins and I get to dip my toe in open licensing.

No, with NC people get the credit for having something "open" while not 
really giving anything to anyone. How often have I cursed some half ass 
"free for noncommercial use" license on government data because it 
cannot be combined with anything that is properly open like OSM!

The wording "dip my toe in open licensing" sounds as if a NC license 
could be a first careful step one the ladder to proper interoperability 
and openness, but it is grossly misleading; why would anyone shed the NC 
if it is already enough to get full "openness" credit?

> Being an economist I wouldn't have thought you'd want to limit the license market to two extreme positions :-)

Gladly this isn't a business. You are allowed to have ideals and stick 
to them. It is not a "how many businesses can we plaster our license on 
by watering it down to basically nothing" competition.

Bye
Frederik