#softwarelicensing — Public Fediverse posts

Software licensing is no longer just about generating and validating license keys.

For modern ISVs, SaaS vendors, IoT platforms, fintech products, and AI-powered applications, licensing becomes part of the core business infrastructure: monetization, entitlement control, usage tracking, customer access, compliance, and automation.

#NetLicensing #LicensingAsAService #SaaS #SoftwareLicensing #EntitlementManagement #ISV #SoftwareMonetization #Labs64 #AgenticAI

Ever had to answer the question "What's included in Copilot Chat without the premium M365 Copilot license?"

Yeah, it's tricky.😅 Microsoft's own materials are either out of date or too tiny to zoom into.🧐 So, I took their latst materials and created my own comparison slide.

There's of course a lot more to #Microsoft365 and #Copilot licensing than can fit into a 2D table. I wrote more about the latest #CopilotChat #softwarelicensing changes in The Licensing Guide blog:
https://licensing.guide/the-ever-moving-goalposts-of-copilot-chat/

https://winbuzzer.com/2025/11/26/microsoft-shifts-visual-studio-to-annual-releases-monthly-updates-xcxwbn/

Microsoft Shifts Visual Studio to Annual Releases, Monthly Updates

#Microsoft #VisualStudio #SoftwareDevelopment #DevTools #Programming #Coding #VisualStudio2026 #MSVC #DotNet #SoftwareLicensing #DeveloperExperience

@gedankenstuecke

This is a long read, but I think it has a much more coherent take on the idea of creating ethical, political, or anti-capitalistic software licenses:

https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/mar/17/copyleft-ethical-source-putin-ukraine/

#nccc #ppl #agpl #gpl #foss #fosh #freesoftware #freehardware #license #licensing #softwarelicense #softwarelicensing #copyleft #copyfarleft

🤔 Oh, look! #Liquibase has decided that "open source" means "closed source with a twist" now. 🎩🐇 Bravo for the open-source magic trick where the license isn't what it seems, but hey, who needs #transparency when you have marketing! 🎉📜
https://github.com/liquibase/liquibase/issues/7374 #openSource #illusion #marketing #controversy #softwareLicensing #HackerNews #ngated

Did you read the quarter-million-line license for your Slack app?

https://mastodon.mit.edu/@Eggfreckles/114825126857396420

#HackerNews #Did #you #read #the #quarter-million-line #license #for #your #Slack #app? #HackerNews #SlackApp #SoftwareLicensing #TechEthics #OpenSource

Does anyone know of R packages that require license keys for certain features? Curious about packages with mixed open/proprietary functionality. #RStats #SoftwareLicensing

Check out the lastest article I wrote for the #Fedora Magazine:

https://fedoramagazine.org/beginners-guide-for-open-source-developers-for-software-licensing-with-fsfe-reuse/

Tired of messy software licensing in your #OpenSource projects?

The #FSFE #REUSE specification solves the chaos of unclear licenses, mixed origins, and compliance headaches.

This guide shows you how to make licensing explicit, machine-readable, and auditable, including helpful experiences from real-world introductions

#SoftwareLicensing #FOSS #Developer #Compliance

@fedora
@fsfe

UK Class Action Suit Accuses Microsoft of Inflating Software Prices

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #Windows #UK #SoftwareLicensing #TechLaw #ConsumerRights #BigTech #Cloud

https://winbuzzer.com/2025/05/15/uk-class-action-suit-accuses-microsoft-of-inflating-software-prices-xcxwbn/

⚠️ Legal alert: Broadcom is issuing cease-and-desist letters to VMware perpetual-license users 🚨

📄 Perpetual-license agreements deemed non-compliant
🛑 Users must migrate to subscriptions or face legal action
🔒 Broadcom cites IP infringement and support violations
💡 Action: Audit your license status and plan your upgrade path now

#VMware #Broadcom #Compliance #ITsecurity #SoftwareLicensing
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/broadcom-sends-cease-and-desist-letters-to-subscription-less-vmware-users/

I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice

https://code.mendhak.com/gpl-v2-address-letter/

#HackerNews #GPLv2 #OpenSource #SoftwareLicensing #HackerNews #TechCommunity #GPL

VMware Workstation & Fusion Now Free For All Users https://cybersecuritynews.com/vmware-workstation-free-users/ #InformationSecurity #CyberSecurityNews #cybersecuritynews #SoftwareLicensing #Virtualization #Technology #TechNews

#SoftwareLicensing Changes and Their Impact on Financial Outcomes #OpenSource

https://redmonk.com/rstephens/2024/08/26/software-licensing-changes-and-their-impact-on-financial-outcomes/

So what exactly constitutes "prominent notices stating that you modified it, and giving a relevant date" for #GPLv3 code?

For example, I'm working on a personal project and writing licensing it under the GPLv3. If I want to take and modify a single function (or a few) from another GPLv3-licened projected, how do I state the modifications and the date? Do git commits count? What exactly do I need to do?

#FOSS #Programming #SoftwareLicensing

Focusing on the wrong open source issues - If you follow open source topics on X/Twitter, you can be forgiven for believing the b... - https://www.infoworld.com/article/3715386/focusing-on-the-wrong-open-source-issues.html#tk.rss_all #technologyindustry #softwarelicensing #opensource

OpenTofu may be showing us the wrong way to fork - OpenTofu’s founders had a mission. Upset by HashiCorp licensing changes in August 2023... - https://www.infoworld.com/article/3714980/opentofu-may-be-showing-us-the-wrong-way-to-fork.html#tk.rss_all #softwarelicensing #opensource

Ensuring the open source moment continues - Back in the 2000s, we talked about open source a lot—perhaps too much. We fought about... - https://www.infoworld.com/article/3714784/ensuring-the-open-source-moment-continues.html#tk.rss_all #technologyindustry #softwarelicensing #opensource

Use strong copyleft licenses for your software, please. When you use permissive licenses like MIT or BSD (2 or 3 clause), you're essentially giving up the premise that free software should remain free.

The fact that silicon valley tech companies avoid using software with strong copyleft licensing is an argument for, not against them.

#SoftwareLicensing #copyleft #GPL

Open source needs to catch up in 2024 - Open source pioneer Bruce Perens gets one thing right and most things wrong in a recen... - https://www.infoworld.com/article/3711881/open-source-needs-to-catch-up-in-2024.html#tk.rss_all #artificialintelligence #emergingtechnology #softwarelicensing #cloudcomputing #generativeai #opensource

MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin bag is up $900M amid BTC price surge - Michael Saylor founded MicroStrategy has bought 6,067 Bitcoin sin... - https://cointelegraph.com/news/microstrategy-bitcoin-play-up-nearly-a-billion-amid-btc-price-surge #bitcoininvestmentstrategy #businessanalytics #softwarelicensing #quarterlyresults #michaelsaylor #subscription #statement

Ok #SoftwareLicensing question: we have some software to interface with an #FPGA which uses the manufacturers USB python code. We want to release our code as an open source package (its currently GPL-3, but thats just my default), but it has this license:
https://opalkelly.com/about-us/frontpanel-license/

Opal Kelly hereby grants to the Licensee a temporary, non-exclusive license to install and use Software. Licensee shall not modify, distribute, resell or otherwise transfer Software for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial. Licensee may integrate and sub-license Software for distribution but Software must only be used in conjunction with Opal Kelly devices or devices incorporating Firmware.

That to me says two opposite things: a) we are not allowed to distribute it for any purpose, and also b) we may sub-license and distribute it if we use it with their hardware (we are)

Is this a normal thing in #embedded world? Can we just... copy and paste it into a vendor folder and call it a day, or do we need to redesign this thing?

Rethinking open source for AI - We keep using the term “open source” in the context of large language models (LLMs) li... - https://www.infoworld.com/article/3706091/rethinking-open-source-for-ai.html#tk.rss_all #artificialintelligence #softwarelicensing #neuralnetworks #opensource

HashiCorp’s software license turns realpolitik - Well, that was awkward. In July I wrote about shifts in the open source licensing land... - https://www.infoworld.com/article/3704809/hashicorps-software-license-turns-realpolitik.html#tk.rss_all #technologyindustry #softwarelicensing #cloudcomputing #opensource

@hack , I've been using a "license where you're not allowed to attribute the original author and must pretend that you wrote it yourself" (of a sort) on a non-software work, my personal FAQ (http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/), for decades.

I wanted to permit either verbatim replication with attribution, preserving my views intact, or unrestricted CC-style remixing and morphing of my personal views but with blowback towards me from third-party changes averted by the altered work being required to be asserted to be someone else's. So, the wording is:

"Copyright (C) 1995-2023 by Rick Moen. Verbatim copying, distribution, and display of this entire article (page) are permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved. Alternatively, you may create derivative works of any sort for any purpose, provided your versions contain no attribution to me, and that you assert your own authorship (and not mine) in every practical medium."

https://federate.social/@dmarti described this licence (when I concocted it in the '90s), as "bastard reverse copyleft", and wisely cautioned about legal uncertainties owing to its novelty. (/me nods to https://teh.entar.net/@spacehobo)

#SoftwareLicensing #CreativeCommons
#OpenSourceSoftware
#OpenSource
#copyfight
#SillyGeekTricks

Labs64 - Innovations Delivered

https://www.labs64.com

#softwarelicensing #laas #licensing_as_a_service #licensemanagement #licensing #monetization #labs64 #netlicensing