⚡AgentSkills
⚖️ Legal & Compliance · Open Source Legal

Choose open-source licenses strategically

Permissive vs copyleft vs source-available tradeoffs matched to project goals.

intermediate~30 minLegal OpsPrivacy OfficersCompliance Teams

Steps

  1. 1Define what you want others to do/not do with your code first
  2. 2MIT/Apache-2.0 for maximal adoption; Apache adds patent grant + NOTICE
  3. 3Copyleft (GPL/AGPL) when protecting downstream openness matters more than spread
  4. 4Consider dual-licensing or CLAs if commercialization is planned
  5. 5Add LICENSE + copyright headers consistently from commit one
  6. 6Review dependency licenses for compatibility before every release

Common Pitfalls

  • ▲AGPL adopted casually then blocking enterprise deals unexpectedly
  • ▲License files absent while README claims MIT mysteriously

Commands

Install with skills CLI
$ npx skills add aniruddhaadak80/skills --skill open-source-law-license-selection-strategy
Install globally
$ npx skills add aniruddhaadak80/skills --skill open-source-law-license-selection-strategy -g

Tags

#licensing#open-source#strategy#legal-compliance#open-source-law