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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[Help] How do I word my grant application to keep my software FOSS? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 months ago by thevoidzero@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Hi everyone,

I'm hoping there are people here who work on FOSS and have applied for grants to support their software financially. I am applying for a grant opportunity that is asking for a software from US gov agency.

My requirements:

I want to publish it under Open Source Licenses like GPL (not MIT) so other corps can't take this to use on their product,
The grant agency will get the source code, they can do whatever as long as the license is held,
I will develop the features they want, and request during the duration of grant,
I will want to continue development independently after the grant, or apply for more grants from other organizations,
To clarify the previous point, I do not want to give them the final product so they own it, and I can no longer do anything on the program.

So, if anyone has done similar things, please give me advice on this. Their requirement says "a web repository" should be provided at the end, so I think I can apply with the intention of giving them the software code while keeping the rights. But I don't want to make a mistake in application/contract and lost the rights to the program, I want to develop a lot further than just the features they want for their use case.

Or at least dual license to protect the Open Source Side while giving the grant organization rights to take the code for their other programs because of the money they spent.

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[–] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That is probably something you should ask a lawyer for, not strangers on the Internet. But I think if you make the case that you already have a lot of the groundwork for the project published under GPL, you can massively reduce effort by using that, but that'll mean the final project will be GPL licensed as well, most people would agree that's a reasonable trade off. Just make sure it's written somewhere, so they can't pull a fast one on you

[–] thevoidzero@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Thank you. I'm a PhD student, so I do not have access to Lawyers that I can ask, and it probably will cost me money to get their opinion if I seek professional lawyers.

[–] the_strange@feddit.org 10 points 3 months ago

If your university has a law faculty they might offer limited legal advice from current students for free or a reduced fee.

[–] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 months ago

You could try emailing the FSF and explaining your situation. They constantly get into legal battles over licencing and care a whole lot about open source. Their opinion is certainly a lot more expert than what any of us can produce :D

[–] delta_g@programming.dev 3 points 3 months ago

It’s worth double checking this, especially if your school has a law school.

When I was in school, we could gain access to unlimited legal council for a small semester-ly fee. Usually it was used for landlord disputes, but this is a great use case, too.