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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 2 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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[–] _edge@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Not legal advice, just an idea.

Publish early and frequently (e.g. on github with a license statement) and encourage others to clone it. Now the code is out there. You can't take it back. Even better if the funding agency explicitly approves this.

You can still dual-license, later, i.e. use a more permissive (or different) license if the agency or a research partner requires this. Just make sure the repo with your preferred licence stays available and uptodate.

The license is less important than you think. OSS projects live as long as there is at least one maintainer.

[–] thevoidzero@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Thank you.

From my interactions with the people that'll fund this. It does look like they want me to just develop this. But my advisor has not done this kind of software development grants. And the people I talked to might also not know what their organization's legal requirements are put in contract. That's why I want to know what kind of language I should use in proposal so that it can be used as a point of discussion if someone from their organization says we can't do that. Instead of them just assuming I'll hand over everything.