README.rst: add licensing manifesto

closes #825
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Robert Jördens 2017-08-24 21:07:31 -04:00
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@ -45,3 +45,20 @@ GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
along with ARTIQ. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
The ARTIQ manifesto
===================
The free and open dissemination of methods and results is central to scientific progress.
The ARTIQ authors, contributors, and supporters consider the free and open exchange of scientific tools to be equally important and have chosen the licensing terms of ARTIQ accordingly.
ARTIQ, including its gateware, the firmware, and the ARTIQ tools and libraries are licensed as LGPLv3+.
This ensures that a user of ARTIQ obtains broad rights to use, redistribute, and modify it.
The following statements are intended to clarify the interpretation and application of the licensing terms:
* There is no requirement to distribute any unmodified, modified, or extended versions of ARTIQ. Only when distributing ARTIQ the source needs to be made available.
* Unmodified, modified, or extended versions of ARTIQ can be distributed freely under the terms of the LGPLv3+.
* Your ``Experiments``, ``Applets``, and ARTIQ device drivers are considered "Applications" (see the LGPLv3+) and can be (but don't have to be) distributed under the terms of your choice. The public distribution under a free and open license is encouraged, however.
* Similarly, distribution and licensing of your experiment data, calibrations, or measurement results is entirely at your discretion.
* Other features, changes, and additions are considered modifications of ARTIQ and inherit the LGPLv3+. Those include for example adding new RTIO ``Phys``, compiler optimizations, compiler features, ports of the compiler to other target CPUs, dashboard or browser features that are not in applets, as well as scheduler, master and runtime modifications.
* Analogously to the established practice in the Linux kernel, we do not consider components that are developed and used independently to be modifications of ARTIQ.
* For example, when developing a ``Phy`` for an independently developed and used gateware component, that gateware component is not considered a modification of ARTIQ (but the ``Phy`` is).