
Ask HN: Is it necessary to say open-source software comes with no warranty? - life_is_short
I just looked at the list of open-source licenses. It&#x27;s a long list that takes time to read and understand.<p>https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Comparison_of_free_and_open-source_software_licenses<p>Is there or can there be a license that means all the good things and none of the bad, and is under 5 words?
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DanielStraight
I'd suggest reading this line-by-line explanation of the MIT license:
[https://writing.kemitchell.com/2016/09/21/MIT-License-
Line-b...](https://writing.kemitchell.com/2016/09/21/MIT-License-Line-by-
Line.html)

Once you understand why everything that's in a license is there, it's hard to
imagine making it much shorter.

The Apache license does a good job of separating out the full text and a
smaller boilerplate to put on each file, so that may be a good option.

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brudgers
Discussing serious concerns with a lawyer might be a useful strategy. The cost
of doing so reasonably filters concerns on seriousness. Among serious
concerns, proprietary commercial licensing, and dual licensing seem like a
good candidates.

Another useful strategy in many other cases might be choosing a standard
license because it allows energy to be devoted to the product which is often
where value lies.

Good luck.

