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
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.