You are fine with a free software project using Slint as well: Slint is a GPL project, with everything that implies. The releases are out there and the slint project is bound to the terms it released them under. In theory we could release new versions without the GPL option, but we can not take the sources of the released versions away. Neither the other licensing options nor the contribution rules change that. If youbare happy with GPL dependencies, you can use Slint just as any other GPL dependency, with the same risks and benefits.
The copyright holders of any GPL project can decide to relicense their (future) releases. I admit that it is a bit simpler in Slints case due to the contribution rules, but other projects have similar rules in place. Copyright assignments, CLAs, …, they all exist to simplify a possible future relicensing effort. And even GPL projects without such provisions in place have manged to relicense before.
As a user of Slint you typically never get into contact with our contribution setup at all. Only a contributor might pause and decide not to spend time on Slint due to that. IMHO that is entirely normal: I use tons of free and open source projects that I would never contribute to – for various reasons ranging from contribution terms, to programming language being used or the projects community.
In many cases you can also publish slint related code in your own repository under whatever license you like. While this obviously does not work for core functionality that has to live in Slint itself, it does work for a wide range of things you might want to make available (like new widgets, …).
I think we can’t find an agreement on our angles on the topic so much that it’s simply not constructive to push the conversation further. I’m afraid that if I’ll try to say anything now, it’ll be a repetition of what was already written earlier.
In short, I see Slint as a not GPL project (but rather as a commercial project that happens for now to triple-license the code and includes GPL). I see GPL projects as fundamentally different to Slint, in a sense that, once you have enough external contributors, you simply cannot revert back and stop being a GPL project, whereas in Slint I see it as possible. I trust GPL projects and I know I can “lean” on them, whereas I’d advise to rely on Slint only if you have commercial entanglement that you want to keep.
So to be a GPL project you need to be able to trust the project to release all future releases under GPL in addition to having released existing code under GPL?
I do not like this approach:
First of, you need a crystal ball to decide whether a project is GPL or not: Some projects managed to pull off a license change before, just by asking devs whether they are ok and replacing code from devs that did not agree. Its rare, but it happens, so checking for CLAs, copyright assignments, …, is not enough.
Secondly this definition excludes lots of projects that release their source code under GPL, including the GNU project. They ask for copyright assignment, both to defend the GPL license, as well as to be able to relicense when weaknesses in the current licenses are found. I give you that GNU is probably way more trustworthy wrt. not changing away from the free software spirit than some random company.
You are fine with a free software project using Slint as well: Slint is a GPL project, with everything that implies. The releases are out there and the slint project is bound to the terms it released them under. In theory we could release new versions without the GPL option, but we can not take the sources of the released versions away. Neither the other licensing options nor the contribution rules change that. If youbare happy with GPL dependencies, you can use Slint just as any other GPL dependency, with the same risks and benefits.
The copyright holders of any GPL project can decide to relicense their (future) releases. I admit that it is a bit simpler in Slints case due to the contribution rules, but other projects have similar rules in place. Copyright assignments, CLAs, …, they all exist to simplify a possible future relicensing effort. And even GPL projects without such provisions in place have manged to relicense before.
As a user of Slint you typically never get into contact with our contribution setup at all. Only a contributor might pause and decide not to spend time on Slint due to that. IMHO that is entirely normal: I use tons of free and open source projects that I would never contribute to – for various reasons ranging from contribution terms, to programming language being used or the projects community.
In many cases you can also publish slint related code in your own repository under whatever license you like. While this obviously does not work for core functionality that has to live in Slint itself, it does work for a wide range of things you might want to make available (like new widgets, …).
I think we can’t find an agreement on our angles on the topic so much that it’s simply not constructive to push the conversation further. I’m afraid that if I’ll try to say anything now, it’ll be a repetition of what was already written earlier.
In short, I see Slint as a not GPL project (but rather as a commercial project that happens for now to triple-license the code and includes GPL). I see GPL projects as fundamentally different to Slint, in a sense that, once you have enough external contributors, you simply cannot revert back and stop being a GPL project, whereas in Slint I see it as possible. I trust GPL projects and I know I can “lean” on them, whereas I’d advise to rely on Slint only if you have commercial entanglement that you want to keep.
I’d propose to agree to disagree.
So to be a GPL project you need to be able to trust the project to release all future releases under GPL in addition to having released existing code under GPL?
I do not like this approach:
First of, you need a crystal ball to decide whether a project is GPL or not: Some projects managed to pull off a license change before, just by asking devs whether they are ok and replacing code from devs that did not agree. Its rare, but it happens, so checking for CLAs, copyright assignments, …, is not enough.
Secondly this definition excludes lots of projects that release their source code under GPL, including the GNU project. They ask for copyright assignment, both to defend the GPL license, as well as to be able to relicense when weaknesses in the current licenses are found. I give you that GNU is probably way more trustworthy wrt. not changing away from the free software spirit than some random company.