diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 125b97ea8d..97b2b84823 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@ ScanCode LicenseDB
====================
LicenseDB is likely the largest collection of software licenses available on
-earth and may be beyond.
+Earth and maybe beyond.
LicenseDB is a free and open database of mostly all the software licenses, in
-particular all the open source software licenses, with over 2000 curated licenses
+particular all the open-source software licenses, with over 2000 curated licenses
texts and their metadata.
LicenseDB is built from the ScanCode Toolkit license dataset. ScanCode Toolkit
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ license details and texts using this license key as an identifier:
for instance: https://scancode-licensedb.aboutcode.org/gpl-2.0.LICENSE
+This index and the static website is also available offline with ScanCode Toolkit as a
+command line option `--get-license-data`.
+
+
Git
-----
@@ -60,9 +64,8 @@ documents: https://github.com/nexB/scancode-licensedb
This git repository contains the original and editable source files:
https://github.com/nexB/scancode-toolkit
-- for the metadata of a license, for instance at https://github.com/nexB/scancode-toolkit/edit/develop/src/licensedcode/data/licenses/gpl-2.0.yml
-
-- for the text of a license, for instance at https://github.com/nexB/scancode-toolkit/edit/develop/src/licensedcode/data/licenses/gpl-2.0.LICENSE
+- for the text of a license and the metadata of a license as YAML frontmatter, for instance at
+ https://github.com/nexB/scancode-toolkit/tree/develop/src/licensedcode/data/licenses/gpl-2.0.LICENSE
Support
diff --git a/templates/help.html b/templates/help.html
index f5292edf6c..62337f005d 100644
--- a/templates/help.html
+++ b/templates/help.html
@@ -107,8 +107,7 @@
This git repository contains the full history of the generated HTML and JSON API documents https://github.com/nexB/scancode-licensedb
This git repository contains the original and editable source files: https://github.com/nexB/scancode-toolkit
@@ -267,81 +266,83 @@
License Categories #
+ - CLA
+ -
+ A Contributor License Agreement (CLA) describes and defines the contribution acceptance rules for the ongoing
+ development and enhancement of a software project. The CLA may specify how the resulting software contribution
+ itself will be licensed.
+
- Commercial
-
- A direct commercial license between a supplier and a customer.
- Further fact-finding by a Product Team will be necessary to determine how the license conditions apply to use of the software.
- This is a Proprietary license that is not Open Source.
+ Third-party proprietary software offered under a direct commercial license between supplier and customer.
+ Further fact-finding by Product Teams will be necessary to determine the code's license status and function,
+ if any.
- Copyleft
-
- A license that offers irrevocable permission to the public to copy and redistribute the work in the same or modified form,
- but with the conditions that all such redistributions make the work available in a form that facilitates further modification
- and uses the same license terms. A Copyleft license can require code interacting with Copyleft-licensed code to be licensed under
- the same license or a compatible license. This is an Open Source license. This category may be described as “Strong Copyleft”.
+ Open source software with a "copyleft" license that offers irrevocable permission to the public to copy and
+ redistribute the work in the same or modified form, but with the conditions that all such redistributions
+ make the work available in a form that facilitates further modification and use the same license terms.
+ A copyleft license can require code interacting with copyleft-licensed code to be licensed the same way.
- Copyleft Limited
-
- A license that requires you to redistribute source code, including your changes, and to provide attribution for the software authors.
- Your obligation to redistribute source code, including proprietary code linked with code under this license,
- is limited according to license-specific rules. This is an Open Source license. This category may be described as “Weak Copyleft”.
+ A license that requires you to redistribute source code, including your changes, and also to provide
+ attribution for the software authors. Your obligation to redistribute source code, including proprietary
+ code linked with code under this license, is limited according to license-specific rules.
- Free Restricted
-
- A Permissive-style license that contains restrictions regarding the usage of the software (e.g. where the software is not
- intended for use in nuclear power plants) or the redistribution of the software (e.g. where commercial redistribution of
- the software is not allowed or allowed only with express permission). The Free Software Foundation (FSF) says that a license
- with this kind of restriction is not really open source, although the OSI point of view is not that strict.
- This is a Proprietary license that is not Open Source.
+ A Permissive-style license, that contains restrictions regarding the usage of the software
+ (for example, where the software is not intended for use in nuclear power plants) or the redistribution
+ of the software (for example, where commercial redistribution of the software is not allowed without
+ express permission). The Free Software Foundation (FSF) says that a license with this kind of restriction
+ is not really open source, although the OSI point of view is not that strict.
- Patent License
-
- A license that applies to patents rather than specific software. May be used in conjunction with other software license(s) that
- apply to a software component.
+ A license that applies to patents rather than specific software. May be used in conjunction with other
+ software license(s) that apply to a software component.
- Permissive
-
- A license that requires you to provide attribution for the software authors and may include other conditions.
- This is an Open Source license.
+ Open Source software that is made available under "non-copyleft" licenses. These generally require
+ attribution of the included open source and may include other obligations.
- Proprietary Free
-
- A license that does not require a supplier-customer contract, but has specific terms and conditions which a Product Team
- is obligated to follow. These terms and conditions may be documented in the code and/or from a webpage where you must accept
- the license (i.e. click-through). This is a Proprietary license that is not Open Source.
+ Proprietary Free software that may not require a commercial license but may have specific terms and
+ conditions which Product Teams are obligated to follow. Some of these terms and conditions are provided
+ with or in the code or in clickable downloaded licenses. Examples are the Sun Binary Code License Agreement
+ or a freely offered BSP.
- Public Domain
-
- “Public Domain” as a license category means software that is not restricted by copyright.
- This is most often applicable to a software component because the person entitled to control the copyright has disclaimed that
- right in a notice (“dedication”) that appears similar to a license. It is possible for software to be in the public domain
- because the copyright has expired, but this is rarely relevant for software due to the long duration of copyrights in most jurisdictions.
- The rules for disclaiming copyright and copyright expiration dates vary widely by jurisdiction.
- A public domain dedication may apply to software code examples on a website, published public domain specifications or
- another type of publication. Public Domain is typically treated as similar to an Open Source license even though it is not an
- Open Source license.
+ Open source software that is made available without explicit obligations, but which has a license notice
+ that must be kept with the code per organization policy. The match may be to software, code examples
+ on a website, published public domain specifications or another type of publication.
- Source-available
-
- A license where the software is released through a source code distribution model that includes conditions where the source
- can be viewed, and in some cases modified, but without meeting the criteria to be called Open Source.
- The most common restriction is for “field of use”. This is a Proprietary license that is not Open Source.
+ Source-available software is software released through a source code distribution model that includes
+ arrangements where the source can be viewed, and in some cases modified, but without necessarily meeting
+ the criteria to be called open-source.
- Unstated License
-
- “Unstated License” as a license category means third-party software that has a copyright notice, but no stated license.
- Common examples include code snippets from publications and websites. The absence of a license poses a risk that the copyright
- owner may assert license conditions at some future time. A Product Team may need to contact the copyright owner to determine the
- license conditions, if any.
+ Third-party software that has a copyright notice, but no stated license. Common examples include code snippets
+ from publications and websites (such as those from O'Reilly Media). The absence of a license poses a risk
+ that the copyright owner may assert license obligations at some future time. Product Teams may need to
+ contact the copyright owner to determine the license obligations, if any.