Episode 29: How License Zero Works with Kyle Mitchell

<center> <small>Sponsored By:</small> <a href="https://promo.linode.com/sustain/" target="_blank"><img src="https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/2/27729c65-f4a6-4496-8c86-820e7f13b285/_xSnMSeA.png" width="150px" heigh="47px"></a> </center> Panelists Richard Littauer | Justin Dorfman | Pia Mancini | Eric Berry | Allen “Gunner” Gunn Guest Kyle E. Mitchell Attorney, License Zero Show Notes Kyle E. Mitchell is an independent Attorney based in California. Today we talk to him about Open Source subjects such as “License Zero.” He delves into the types of licenses there are, what are their differences, and how they came about. Also, be sure to check out this week’s spotlights for ways to help out during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak. 1:42 Richard ask Kyle about his blog post about License Zero, aka dual licensing, selling exceptions, or public/private licensing. What it is, what it does, and how Dev’s get paid for their creative work. 03:14 Kyle explains that License Zero has two types of licenses, public, which is not open source and the other is parity. 06:55 Kyle talks about how License Zero started out with one licensing choice. It was similar to the Creative Commons license used for stock photos, music, etc. 10:24 Kyle reveals how he needed to create a new license for License Zero, a share-alike license that would help cover Dev’s work they were creating. 14:13 Pia asks about projects that he’s had experience using this license with, and lessons he’s learned. 21:00 Pia wants to know if License Zero is creating complexity in the Open Source world by having different licenses. Is this making it more difficult for people to navigate and understand what they can and can’t do with those licenses? Kyle goes into License Proliferation. 26:32 Richard brings up one of Kyle’s blog posts about the “curse of sustainability” and how it’s impossible to fix the open source problem. 33:04 So far, we’ve mainly talked about the “what” of licensing. Gunner wants Kyle to go into the “who” of licensing. Does