About the Musing Studio CLA
Overview
Write.as / Musing Studio requires contributors to sign a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) on certain free / open-source software projects before accepting contributions. Currently, this is only required on one project: WriteFreely.
Why we require a CLA
WriteFreely contains the backend code and frontend web application that are crucial to our small, self-funded business. Its code not only powers Write.as, but also Snap.as and our other products in development. We've been its sole developer since starting on it in January 2015.
We're mostly concerned with being able to continue utilizing our years of work in the hosted service that sustains us (Write.as), and in new products. In addition, we bear the maintenance cost of all changes and contributions, and would like to have that high cost balanced out by the freedom to use those changes without strings attached.
While the CLA does not change your rights to use your own contributions for any other purpose, the rights you grant us allow us to release the software under a different license without getting your permission first. To be clear, these rights don't allow us to undo any existing release under the AGPL, but let us make an additional release under a different license.
For example, we could dual-license the project, so users could have the choice in which one to use the software under. We could release another version under a more permissive free software license, a closed or proprietary license, or one that requires the software to be used only for total world domination.
By signing the CLA, you are giving us the power to do this without requiring your consent. If you aren't comfortable with this, please do not sign the CLA and do not contribute to WriteFreely. You can still maintain your own fork, contribute to other Write.as projects that don't require a CLA, help translate the app, or help with documentation.
CLAs
- Last Author
- matt
- Last Edited
- Aug 13 2024, 6:35 PM