CrunchBang - Code, Design & GNU/Linux

WTF, no WTFPL?

I have been thinking about starting a little project. It is only a trivial project and I really do not think anyone will ever benefit from it, but out of curiosity and because I can, I am thinking of doing it anyway.

So, last night I was looking at different open-source licenses with the intention of selecting one for my new project. Now, considering what I have already stated, I came to the conclusion that the WTFPL was probably the best license to opt for. The WTFPL is extremely permissive and therefore it is ideal for a throwaway project. By using the WTFPL, I can effectively build and release my project and never have to worry about anyone ever contacting me about using it. Or for that matter, any crazy stuff happening, not that it would, but anyway…

…with a decision made on which license to use, I then considered where I would like to host the project. I have recently been following a few projects that are hosted on the Google Code service, so I decided that the Google Code service might make a good home.

I set about creating a new project using the web form provided. I started filling in the details, describing what my project was about and then I arrived at a dropdown menu where I was given a choice of open-source licenses. I had not considered that the WTFPL would not be listed — I mean, it is recognised by the FSF!

So, not being too sure what to think about this, I performed a quick web search and found that Rémy Sanchez had recently raised this as an issue on Google Code:

I'd like to submit a project using the WTFPL license ( http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/ ). I have seen how much licenses are a trouble (oh, is this license GPL compatible ?), and I think that unless you have reasons (like a big project, or something made by a company, etc), you generally don't care about the exact details of what is possible or not with the license. This is why I put most of my code under WTFPL, and that I'd like to host a WTFPL project here.

And the response from Chris DiBona:

No. The wtfpl is cute, but if you want to use it, you'll need to go to another host.

Initially I was somewhat perplexed with the response given by Chris and I asked myself why a FSF recognised license would not be suitable for use by projects on Google Code? I decided to do a little more digging and whilst I was watching the video of Chris DiBona's talk, "Open Source is Magic", I got my answer. Basically, the Google Code service only supports the major open-source licenses because there is a greater chance that lawyers will already have come across these licenses and know about the attached compliance issues. Funny thing is, I am definitely not a lawyer, but I am pretty sure I understand the WTFPL!