Open Web Foundation Agreement Licenses Specifications for All
The Open Web Foundation has drafted a public agreement with which creators of proprietary specifications can grant the developer community usage rights.
The agreement allows corporations, employers, partnerships or similar legal entities and individuals to grant each other free usage rights to their specifications. One the one hand it should it easier for publishers of formats and protocols to manage their licensees, in that not everyone needs to sign a separate license agreement. On the other hand the agreement should break up the world of myopic specifications so as to move them along in a more unifying way.
The foundation mentions in their introduction that the use cases for the agreement should "include everything from small ad-hoc formats sketched out among friends to large multi-corporation collaborations that ultimately grow into international recognized standards." The text of the agreement is not particularly long. Agreement grantors can simply provide downloads, for example. It also allows limiting existing usage rights to certain versions of the specification, including the right to create and sell derivatives.
The agreement is to be the first step in an open specification process that follows the open source developer model, at least as promised at the founding of the Open Web Foundation at last year's OSCON conference. In the next few months, the foundation also promises a general, reusable Contributor License Agreement that not only recycles specifications, but addresses contributions at earlier stages of specification development.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
-
Gnome 48 Debuts New Audio Player
To date, the audio player found within the Gnome desktop has been meh at best, but with the upcoming release that all changes.