More and more projects are being created as Open Source. However just because you’re created an open source project doesn’t mean you give everything in your cookie jar away. You should only release your code subject to a licence agreement. A common confusion when putting projects onto Open Source platforms like GitHub is ‘What License Should I Use?”. We have our own opinions but we aren’t lawyers so if you want to know what’s best for you speak with your lawyer.
Figure: Bad Example - No License - Generally speaking, the absence of a license means that default copyright laws apply. This means that you retain all rights to your source code and that nobody else may reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from your work. For more information read http://choosealicense.com/no-license/
Figure: Good Example - GPL License – For projects where you want consumers of your code to share their changes. Anyone who distributes your code or a derivative of your code must make the source available under the same terms. Warning: Consider carefully before using on components to be used in commercial applications due to the CopyLeft requirement. Used by Linux, Git, WordPress - GNU General Public License on Wikipedia
Figure: Good Example - MIT License - for projects where you are happy for people to do anything with your code. Use for .Net core, jQuery and Node.js - MIT License on Wikipedia
Figure: Good Example – Apache License - for projects where you require attribution. Microsoft use the Apache license for MVC, EntityFramework, SignalR and Roslyn - Apache License on Wikipedia - Used for all SSW Open Source Projects.
