COMMONS License
Code Open to Mutuality by Mortals; Organizations Negotiate with Steward
A software license for stewarded digital commons.
COMMONS seeks to support:
- learning and transparency;
- mutuality and collaboration among natural persons;
- sustainable stewardship of software;
- negotiated participation by organizations.
COMMONS is not an Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved license.
Principles
- Individuals may use, study, modify, and share the Software.
- Organizations require permission or an exception from the Steward.
- Commercial exploitation is reserved to the Steward unless expressly authorized.
- Stewardship is accountable and transferable.
- Distributed improvements return to the commons.
Comparison
| Question |
MIT |
AGPL |
BSL |
COMMONS |
| Individuals collaborate freely |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
| Organizations need permission |
✗ |
✗ |
Sometimes |
✓ |
| Accountable Steward |
✗ |
✗ |
✗ |
✓ |
| Distributed improvements return |
✗ |
✗ |
✗ |
✓ |
Documents
Status
COMMONS License v1.0 – Draft for public review.