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Codeberg developer proposes a “EUPL-inspired” license

New license based on the EUPL

Published on: 31/03/2025 News

Based on EUPL-1.2, a Codeberg software developer proposes the OpenCommunity Software License (OCSL), which is provided to be used for open source software that the authors do not want to allow medium and large companies (meaning any entity that employs more than 10 persons full-time) to use it for profit, unless they contract a separate agreement with the authors.

Forking is also restricted, meaning that the forks are only allowed for contribution back to the project and not for creating an alternative project.

In truth, the OpenCommunity Software License (OCSL) Version 1.0 is only distantly related to the EUPL (and is not multilingual). It is presented by the steward as a free software license intended for open source projects that wish to prevent commercial usage by large organizations. But this is not compliant with the “Open Source” principles, which do not admit such restrictions. Therefore the Open Source Initiative (OSI) does not (and will not) approve or endorse this license.

The license is linked here.