Changing the workbench license

[prokoudine]

The Workbench Creation guide recommends licensing addons under the terms of LGPL2.1 — the same license that FreeCAD source code is available under. The recommendation’s rationale is that it should be possible to ship a FreeCAD distribution, either upstream, or a custom one, with 3rd-party addons that are considered useful. While a workbench developer is free to choose an alternative license, doing so may impact the long-term viability and use of the workbench and should be considered carefully.

Ondsel would like to integrate the Fasteners workbench into its distribution of FreeCAD, because the company’s market study suggests that this feature is expected to be available in 3D CAD programs by default. We want to provide our end-users the best possible experience. There’s a possibility that this workbench then will go back to become part of upstream FreeCAD. However neither the upstream version of FreeCAD, nor Ondsel’s version of FreeCAD can distribute this workbench as long as it’s licensed under the terms of GPL2.

We are asking for a conversation about relicensing this workbench under LGPL2+ or another compatible license to allow wider distribution.

• [X] @shaise
• [X] @alexneufeld
• [X] @riqueenz
• [ ] @FreeCAD-Tools
• [X] @luzpaz
• [X] @hasecilu
• [x] @berberic2
• [X] @Roy-043
• [ ] @EA32
• [x] @elysium31
• [X] @kaktusus
• [X] @wavexx
• [X] @tobiasfalk
• [X] @easyw
• [X] @fra589
• [X] @wandrewkeech
• [X] @algtgv
• [X] @hpbmo
• [X] @chennes
• [X] @ApexArray
• [X] @JohanAR
• [x] @elf128
• [X] @chrido
• [X] @spike77453
• [X] @yorikvanhavre
• [X] @f3nix

[leoheck]

I asked ChatGPT to highlight the main differences between those two licences. I am not sure if this is correct tho.

Sure, I can explain the main differences between LGPL 2+ (Lesser General Public License version 2 or later) and GPL 2 (General Public License version 2).

1. Scope of Application:
   • LGPL 2+: Primarily designed for software libraries, allowing them to be used in proprietary software without requiring the proprietary software to be open source.
   • GPL 2: Designed for any kind of software, requiring any derivative work to be distributed under the same license.
2. Derivative Works:
   • LGPL 2+: Allows linking with proprietary software without forcing the proprietary software to become open source.
   • GPL 2: Requires any derivative work, including software linked with GPL-licensed code, to be distributed under the GPL license.
3. Copyleft Requirements:
   • LGPL 2+: Contains weaker copyleft provisions compared to GPL, allowing more flexibility in the licensing of derivative works.
   • GPL 2: Imposes strong copyleft provisions, ensuring that all derivative works are distributed under the same open source license.

In simple terms, LGPL 2+ is like a "friendly" version of GPL 2 for software libraries. It allows those libraries to be used in both open source and proprietary software without imposing strict open source requirements on the proprietary software. On the other hand, GPL 2 applies to all types of software and requires any derivative work to be distributed under the GPL, promoting the open source nature of software development.

[tobiasfalk]

Ping

[kadet1090]

1. Commits from @FreeCAD-Tools are mostly related to SVG optimizations and translations hence the big numbers - I'm not sure if this is even copyrightable so maybe persmission is not needed. https://github.com/shaise/FreeCAD_FastenersWB/commit/1b0b5daa3e6a880a23ba89d0c58b90eb57ed60e3 this seems to be the only copyrightable change
2. Changes from @EA32 are mostly related to SVG and GOST1144 wood screw type - so we'll have to possibly remove and/or reimplement this part only

[shaise]

The main fault is actually mine. Back in the day, as a new GitHub user, I clicked through everything without much thought and ended up with this incorrect license. I believe the other developers didn’t pay much attention to it either when they contributed. Since only two votes are missing and it's been eight months with no response, I think we should go ahead and change the license. We can leave a message here asking anyone with objections to let us know.

[sliptonic]

I concur. Let's move ahead.