For lange licens tekster til brugerene...

Jeg har ofte tænkt over problemet med software licenser.
Ved frie og "frie" licenser, må slut brugeren som regel gøre som han/hun vil, og restriktionerne gælder mere eller mindre kun for udviklere. Så hvorfor er det så lige at slut brugeren skal læse side efter side, bare for at finde ud af at det var unødvendigt at læse det?

Istedet for at vise brugeren en fuld GPL (bare et eksempel), kunne man så ikke bare bruge noget a'la det her:

Whatever Software End User License Agreement

Copyright 2008 Whatever Software. All rights reserved.

When obtaining a copy of this software, associated documentation files, and/or other materials (the "Software"), you are permitted to use, copy, publish, distribute, and/or sell copies of the Software, provided that the following conditions are met:

1. The Software must not be modified, other than under the terms of the Whatever Software Developer License Agreement.
2. The origin of the Software must not be misrepresented.
3. If this Software is used in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
4. Redistributions must include the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY WHATEVER SOFTWARE ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL WHATEVER SOFTWARE OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

...og så have en mere spicifik licens, der gælder hvis man ønsker at modificere softwaren?

Fordelen ved GPL er faktisk, at den står forklaret i menneskesprog i toppen.
Der kunne mange licensskribenter lære en del.

I modsætning til EULA'er, så foreligges brugerne ikke GPL og andre licenser, da man ikke behøver acceptere noget blot for at bruge* det.

* Bruge som i køre softwaren.