Closed Bug 1754201 Opened 3 years ago Closed 2 years ago

Is the BSD Zero Clause License MPL-compatible?

Categories

(mozilla.org :: Licensing, enhancement)

Product:
mozilla.org
Component:
Licensing
Type:
enhancement

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED FIXED

People

(Reporter: bugzilla.mozilla.org, Assigned: mhoye)

Details

Steps to reproduce:

The BSD Zero Clause License (e.g. used at https://github.com/microsoft/tslib/blob/main/LICENSE.txt) is not listed at https://mana.mozilla.org/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=130927170#LicensingRunbook:SoftwareLicensingAndCodeContributionBetweenMozillaAndOtherOrgs&Projects-ProductIntegration

That page does say:

Licenses described as “MIT-like” or “BSD-like” are likely to be compatible with the MPL, but should be evaluated by our legal team prior to inclusion. In this case you should file a bug before proceeding.

Hence this bug :)

At a glance, this looks fine - like the WTFPL had been written by an adult! - but I would appreciate it if we could get a rubber stamp from Daniel Nazer. There is some terminology in there that is enough of a distinct rewrite from what I would have expected in a cut-down BSD-style license that I'd like to get a second expert opinion.

Flags: needinfo?(dnazer)

By second expert opinion I mean a second opinion that happens to come from an expert. It will be the first expert opinion in this bug though.

Hello Vincent, Thanks for running this by us glad to see the Runbook working as a guide.

Yes, the BSD Zero Clause is MPL-compatible.

The BSD Zero Clause is a slightly strange beast in that it has the disclaimer of warranties found in many open source licenses but it doesn't have any notice requirement. This makes compliance even easier (as we don't have to include the copyright notice or disclaimer with our own code). BUT I would recommend including the copyright notice and disclaimer in the same way we would for a regular MIT or BSD-style license.

I think the notice and disclaimer is useful information both for us to keep track of our inbound code and for downstream users.

Does that work for you?

Flags: needinfo?(dnazer)

Thanks Daniel, yes, that works for me, cheers! And I see that Mike's already updated the Runbook, thanks for that :)

Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 2 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED
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