SNPL

The StopNerds Public License (SNPL) is an Open Source Software licence (incorrectly referred to as a “Free Software licence” by the Free Software Foundation) that is thought to be compatible with both the Free Software Definition and the Open Source Definition. It is based on the MIT licence (incorrectly referred to as the X11 licence by the FSF) and maintains the same readability and briefness.

Purpose

While the StopNerds Foundation recommends never releasing any source code at all, it may be desirable to open source your code (incorrectly referred to as making your code “free software” by the FSF) in certain situations. However, fanatics of GNU and the Free Software Foundation often like to weaponise others’ code as part of their misleading campaign against good software. Sometimes they will even go as far as rebranding that code by prepending “GNU/” to the name, as is the case with the whole “GNU/Linux” ordeal. Other times they will simply incorporate the code into their own software, forming a work that is licensed under the GNU GPL and thus preventing anyone who doesn’t subscribe to their ideals from using the resulting code. That is where the SNPL steps in.

By adding an additional clause that prohibits the use of a licensed work in a GNU GPL-licensed project, using the SNPL is an easy way to ensure that GNU zealots cannot abuse your code to promote unjustified, politcally extreme hate campaigns, while letting the more sensible portion of the Open Source community benefit. Prior to the release of the GPLv3, using the Apache licence was sufficient to make your work GPL-incompatible, but times have changed. Using the Apache licence is still a great way to fuck with GPLv2-only projects like Wordpress and Drupal, however.

Practical information

Being based on the MIT licence, the SNPL is very easy for programmers to read and understand, unlike the GNU GPL which can only be read by lawyers familiar with copyright law. Ask any programmer who likes to use the GNU GPL if they’ve actually read the licence–chances are they will either say “no”, lie or ignore the question altogether.

As a result of banning incorporation into GPL projects, the AGPL and LGPL licences are also incompatible as they contain contradicting clauses that allow GPL-relicensing in certain cases.

Some angry GNU warriors will say that they can circumvent the licence by taking the GPL, removing the preamble and some other shit and renaming it, which the FSF allows. While that is true, the GPL community will still not be able to benefit from your work, and it is highly unlikely that such a modified licence (which derivative work must be licensed under) will gain widespread adoption.

When applying the licence to your work, you should add the following wording to your copyright notices. You may change it as you see fit:

This work is licensed under the terms of the StopNerds Public License version 1.1, as published by the StopNerds Foundation. See http://www.stopnerds.org/license/ for more information.

Licence texts

Version 1.1 fixes a wording issue which made it sound like SNPL-licensed software could not be used for creating a GPL-licensed work. Using this version is highly recommended.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. This software, in whole or in part, shall not be combined to form a work that is covered under any version of the GNU General Public License, as published by the Free Software Foundation, Inc. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

StopNerds Public License (SNPL) version 1.0