What are the best 'public domain' open-source licenses?

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4

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3

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Oct 17, 2018

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4 Options Considered

Best 'public domain' open-source licenses	Price	Last Updated
-- GNU General Public License 3.0	-	Oct 17, 2018
-- CC0	0	Dec 31, 2017
-- The Unlicense	-	Nov 14, 2017
-- WTFPL	-	Dec 31, 2017

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Answer 1

GNU General Public License 3.0

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score 2 · Answer 2

CC0

Top Pro

Recommended by the Free Software Foundation

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html See More

Top Pro

Compatible with the GNU GPL

score 1 · Answer 3

The Unlicense

Top Con

It's not global

It doesn't make sense outside of a commonwealth ecosystem, is explicitly illegal in some places (Germany), and of unclear legality in others (Australia). See the discussion on the OSI mailing list: https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review/2012-January/001386.html. See More

Top Pro

Short and simple

The Unlicense is just 3 paragraphs long. See More

Top Con

Gives no control of how the code is used

Putting the code in the public domain leaves it open to abuse. See More

Top Pro

Protects the author

The author of the software avoids any risk for how the software may be used by others. See More

Top Con

Hasn't been reviewed by OSI

The OSI (Open Source Initiative) is an organization that promotes open source software and they commonly review open source licenses. However, they have decided not to review Unlicensed because it has not been written by legal professionals. See More

Top Pro

Unlicensed code is easy to find

When using public code hosts such as GitHub and BitBucket it is suggested to use the filename UNLICENSE instead of the more traditional LICENSE or COPYRIGHT to store the license so it's easier to find unlicensed code. Additionally, the first line of the license is worded in a unique way specifically to allow searching for it with search engines. See More

Top Pro

Removes any possible licensing issues

Everything under the Unlicense is part of the public domain, which means that anything can be done with it. See More

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Answer 4

WTFPL

Top Con

Not fully proven to be valid

It has been used in many open source projects, but is not fully validated, although widely accepted as an open source license. i.e. Proven in a court of law. See More

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What are the best 'public domain' open-source licenses?

4 Options Considered

GNU General Public License 3.0

My Recommendation for GNU General Public License 3.0

My Recommendation for GNU General Public License 3.0

CC0

My Recommendation for CC0

My Recommendation for CC0

Recommended by the Free Software Foundation

Compatible with the GNU GPL

The Unlicense

My Recommendation for The Unlicense

My Recommendation for The Unlicense

It's not global

Short and simple

Gives no control of how the code is used

Protects the author

Hasn't been reviewed by OSI

Unlicensed code is easy to find

Removes any possible licensing issues

WTFPL

My Recommendation for WTFPL

My Recommendation for WTFPL

Not fully proven to be valid

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