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Add to SafariWhen comparing The Unlicense vs GPLv2, the Slant community recommends GPLv2 for most people. In the question“What are the best open-source licenses?” GPLv2 is ranked 7th while The Unlicense is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose GPLv2 is:
Ensures that the software and its derivatives remain licensed under the same license to keep the software free and open source.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Short and simple
The Unlicense is just 3 paragraphs long.
Pro It helps removing the conflicts and violence present in the world
Simple, negativates intellectual property, doesn`t falsely legitimate government coercive threats against other humans not mattering what they have done with their code. You can be sure that using it you avoid "my property, it's mine, ok? I just left it for you to use under my conditions, I own it, I wrote it in that file, it makes sense, my government also says so, now die or I'll kill you."
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.
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.
Pro Protects the author
The author of the software avoids any risk for how the software may be used by others.
Pro Ensures that derivitave works are also protected by copyleft
Ensures that the software and its derivatives remain licensed under the same license to keep the software free and open source.
Pro Guarantees that all changes are given back
Pro Ensures that the software does not become proprietary
Cons
Con Gives no control of how the code is used
Putting the code in the public domain leaves it open to abuse.
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.
Con Cannot be linked with other licenses
Software licensed under the GNU GPLv2 is incompatible with all other licenses, with the exception of GPLv3 in most cases. This means that code from a GPLv2 program cannot be combined with code under another license in the same program.
Con Long and complicated
The license is very long and complicated, making it hard to read and comprehend. However, there is a simplified version available here.
