Free/Open Software Licences are boring but necessary and annoying. This is an attempt to give a gentle introduction to these licences. Presentation in Software Freedom Day 2010 Hong Kong Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLXI4avYk7Q

1. The Boring Licences
Why Should We Care?
Prepared and Presented
by Haggen
Released under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong Licence

2. Case 1:
How much can a book publisher
Copy illegally from the Web?

3. Obvious Answer: The Whole Book
Latest Example: Allegedly > 100 Photos

4. Case 1
Links
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:%E9%A6%
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/File:HK_Fo_Tan_Overview_2
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/File:HK_KCRC_House_Iden
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/File:HK_WoLiuHang.JPG
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/File:Fo_Tan_Nullah_200808

5. Case 2:
Is Free/Open Source Licences
Enforceable?

6. GPL was upheld against
D-Link in a German Court
http://archive.is/6qXfU
Westinghouse Digital Electronics needed to
Pay in damages for willful infringement of GPL
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/04/gpl_violation_

7. History of Software

8. Apple ][+ Clone

9. Changes in Computer Industry
• Rise of Personal Computers
• Widening of Market – Horizontal Market
Possible
• Secrecy and Profitability – Closed Source

10. Source Code
• Computer Instructions are coded in binary
format 00101...
• A more human friendly method to program
computer:
/* Hello World program */
#include<stdio.h>
main()
{ printf("Hello World"); }
• Convert source code into binary instructions by
a computer compiler

11. Richard M. Stallman

12. Responses of Richard Stallman
• Release source code that could not be used
commercially
• Release source code that must remain freely
available -> Software Freedom
• 1983 GNU project, Unix Clone
• 1985 Free Software Foundation, Free as in
Free Speech, General Public License (GPL)

13. Free Software
• The freedom to run the program, for any
purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works,
and change it to make it do what you wish
(freedom 1). Access to the source code is a
precondition for this.

14. Free Software
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can
help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to improve the program, and
release your improvements (and modified
versions in general) to the public, so that the
whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access
to the source code is a precondition for this.

15. General Public License (GPL)
• One of the implementations of the 4 Freedom
• Most used Free/Open Source License
• Contract based on Copyright
• For Libraries - Lesser General Publice License
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html

16. Creative Commons Licences
• For General Copyrighted Works
• Contract based on Copyright
• 4 Elements for different control on Openness
• 6 Different Licences

17. Attribution 署名
Non-Commercial 非商業性
No Derivative Works 禁止衍生
Share Alike 相同方式共享
Licence Elements

18. Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives
(by-nc-nd)
Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike
(by-nc-sa)
Attribution Non-commercial
(by-nc)
Attribution No Derivatives
(by-nd)
Attribution Share Alike
(by-sa)
Attribution
(by)
6 variations
The Licences

19. To Conclude
• How to Promote?
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/
http://gpl-violations.org/
• Example – Clinic Management System
http://cms3.hkma.org/pages/index.asp

20. Image Credits
A-giâu (2005)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Taiwanese_Apple
_II_clone_Cosmo.jpg, released under Creative
Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Licence.

21. Image Credits
Ferdi (2006)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Honeywell-
Bull_DPS_7_Mainframe_BWW_March_1990.jpg,
released under Creative Commons Attribution
ShareAlike 3.0 Licence.
http://www.stallman.org/saintignucius.jpg, released
under Creative Commons Attribution Non-
Derivative 3.0 Licence.