Simple prototype text editor in python

[Scott David Daniels]

Robert Kern wrote:
> thakadu wrote:
>>Regarding the license I have not yet decided what type
>>of license (if any, since its very few lines of code)  but probably
>>will be GPL or BSD style. I have no former experience in
>>licensing code so any suggestions will be welcome there as well.

I've heard the MIT license (a BSD-style license) is a well-written
(legally) license that makes clear you still get credit, don't get
particular blame for ill side-effects, and allows others to use
and modify.  I personally like this style for Python code, since
that is the way Python was handed to me.

The GPL and LGPL are good alternatives if you believe in forcing
others to pen their code in exchange for using yours.  Pick
carefully there.

I'd suggest that picking from the above is the most useful,
picking from the larger range of "well-known" licenses is
second best, and writing your own is worst.  You might even
write "all rights reserved; write me for a particular case"
and get about the same response that writing your own will
get.  The reason for this ordering is that the MIT, LGPL,
and GPL are all licenses that are well-understood by most
programmers, so they needn't go into "reading like a lawyer"
mode to think about whether they can use things based on your
code.  The more work they have to do, the less likely they
will even look at your code (if they behave anything like me).

--Scott David Daniels
scott.daniels at acm.org