Add LICENSE file

[gindoslaw]

Bug description

• Would you like to work on a fix? [n]

Because there is no license file inside repository it make it hard to work with the code legally. Please add LICENSE.txt or LICENSE.rst or LICENSE.md.

You're under no obligation to choose a license. However, without a license, the default copyright laws apply, meaning that you retain all rights to your source code and no one may reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from your work. If you're creating an open source project, we strongly encourage you to include an open source license. The Open Source Guide provides additional guidance on choosing the correct license for your project Source: https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/licensing-a-repository

Additional context

Because it is template reasonable will be to make it MIT or BSD.

[ivmarkov]

You want a license to what?:

• The generated code? I don't think we should put a license for that. It is you who would choose the license of the generated code
• The code of esp-idf-template itself?

[gindoslaw]

In the repository there should be license file, otherwise it is restricted - by default. Can't be copied, can't be modified. All content of the repository is protected, with including ... README file.

No license file does not mean that it is open to modify, it means that it is closed. Without license file in the repository your are sending message "I'm the owner of the code and you can't copy, can't modify and can't redistribute it". If you are afraid of adding license file (because code is generated), for same reason you should be afraid of not adding it :-). No license file does not mean you have opt-out from the code - lack of license file means that you are copyright holder.

If the code is generated - add license file, and in the body of the file add information that it has been generated (and computer algorithms outcomes can't be subject of copyrights).

Currently - as I said - formally, whoever owns repository is a copyright holder. Everything else is just a subject of gray area for the lawyers.

[ivmarkov]

OK. Whenever I have time, I might add LICENSE-MIT + LICENSE-BSD file to the repo, so I'll keep this open. Or you can PR this if this is a big show-stopper for you somehow (just add LICENSE-MIT + LICENSE-BSD that you can copy from - say - esp-idf-svc's GIT project root).

But I don't think this is a big show-stopper actually and maybe you are a bit too strict for what amounts to be a template generator?

I mean, you can always generate a sample project, then "read" its 10-lines (at most) main.rs, then read the similarly-sized Cargo.toml + .cargo/config.toml files and then apply them "manually" in a clean project you generate from scratch.

The stuff that actually matters (the ESP IDF + the esp-idf-* crates) is already covered with licenses:

• BSD+MIT (which is kinda the standard in Rust land) - for the esp-idf-* crates
• Apache2 - for the ESP IDF C codebase itself
• Proprietary licenses for the ESP IDF Wifi and BT blobs (but you can still use them commercially without restrictions)