LICENSE (API v1)

LICENSE is a collection of useful LICENSE templates inspired by GitHub's .gitignore. LICENSE also serves as a versioned API you can use to write software that generates licenses.

LICENSE templates are stored in the licenses directory and end in .license. They contain some or none of the parameters listed below.

Why?

To make writing software that generates licenses easier. LICENSE serves as a stable, public, and versioned API for LICENSE templates that anyone can contribute to. If a license your application requires isn't here, send a pull request!

API?

As stated above, LICENSE also serves as an API. The current stable version of the API is v1. If any breaking changes are made to how the license metadata is stored (licenses.json, licenses.yaml, licenses.txt), the change will be reflected in the API version so as to not break any applications depending on that API version.

Likewise, if any breaking changes are made to the license templates themselves (i.e: new parameter), a new API version will reflect that change. However, the addition of a new license is not considered a breaking change.

Usage

Getting License Template

1. Make a request to https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qw3rtman/LICENSE/api/v1/licenses/{license}.license where license is a license identifier from the table below.
2. Replace all instances of the parameters below with its value (using sed, awk, etc.). Different licenses require different bits of information; some don't require any. (ex: Replace {{{full_name}}} with Nimit Kalra).

Listing Licenses

1. Make a request to - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qw3rtman/LICENSE/api/v1/licenses.json - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qw3rtman/LICENSE/api/v1/licenses.txt - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qw3rtman/LICENSE/api/v1/licenses.yaml
2. Get the metadata. - licenses.json and licenses.yaml
   • total holds the number of licenses
   • licenses holds a dictionary mapping the license identifier to its name. - licenses.txt (:: is the delimiter between key and value, newline is the delimiter between key-value pairs)
   • total holds the number of licenses
   • IDENTIFIER maps to the license name

Alternatively, you can clone this repository to use LICENSE templates offline.

Parameters

Most licenses require some parameters, which are enclosed in triple braces {{{parameter}}} in the LICENSE templates. Below is a list of parameters and their meanings. ("Project" refers to the software being licensed).

year: Current year in YYYY format (i.e: 2016) (date +"%Y")
full_name: Project owner's full name (i.e: Nimit Kalra)
project_name: Project's name (i.e: LICENSE)
description: Project's description (i.e: A Collection of Useful LICENSE Templates)

Identifier	year	full_name	project_name	description
agpl-3.0	✓	✓	✓	✓
apache-2.0	✓	✓	✖	✖
artistic-2.0	✓	✓	✖	✖
bsd-2-clause	✓	✓	✖	✖
bsd-3-clause	✓	✓	✓	✖
cc0-1.0	✖	✖	✖	✖
epl-1.0	✖	✖	✖	✖
gpl-2.0	✓	✓	✖	✓
gpl-3.0	✓	✓	✓	✓
isc	✓	✓	✖	✖
lgpl-2.1	✓	✓	✖	✓
lgpl-3.0	✖	✖	✖	✖
mit	✓	✓	✖	✖
mpl-2.0	✖	✖	✖	✖
unlicense	✖	✖	✖	✖

LICENSE Identifiers

Identifier	License name
agpl-3.0	GNU Affero General Public License v3.0
apache-2.0	Apache License 2.0
artistic-2	Artistic License 2.0
bsd-2-clause	BSD 2-clause "Simplified" License
bsd-3-clause	BSD 3-clause "New" or "Revised" License
cc0-1.0	Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
epl-1.0	Eclipse Public License 1.0
gpl-2.0	GNU General Public License v2.0
gpl-3.0	GNU General Public License v3.0
isc	ISC License
lgpl-2.1	GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1
lgpl-3.0	GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0
mit	MIT License
mpl-2.0	Mozilla Public License 2.0
unlicense	The Unlicense

Contributing

If you catch an error in any of the existing templates send in a pull request describing what the error is, why it is an error, and a source (if applicable).

If you'd like to submit a new template, follow the steps below.

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create a new branch (i.e: add-IDENTIFIER-license), where IDENTIFIER is its common identifier and lowercase. If there is no common identifier, create one following the guidelines set by the existing identifiers listed above.
3. Create a file with the contents of the license in the licenses directory with the format IDENTIFIER.license.
4. Use the parameters listed above where necessary.
5. Add the license to the two tables above (parameters and identifiers).
6. Add the license's name and IDENTIFIER to licenses.json, licenses.yaml, and licenses.txt.
7. Bump the total value in licenses.json, licenses.yaml, and licenses.txt.
8. Send in a pull request. The more information you provide about the license, the better (especially if it is not a well-known license).

If the license you wish to add requires a new parameter, first make an issue about it for discussion. Include why the parameters needs to be added (which license(s) would benefit from it). Adding a new parameter introduces a change in the API that applications may not be expecting or ready for.