Licensing FAQ

Project: Shortlink License: PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 Licensor: Sebastian Peuser, Kornweiheweg 4, 26169 Friesoythe, Germany Commercial licensing: kontakt@peuser.dev

This FAQ is a plain-language summary for orientation. Only the license text is legally binding. It is not legal advice.

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Is Shortlink open source?

No. Shortlink is source available. The source code is published and you may read, modify and redistribute it — but only for non-commercial purposes. PolyForm Noncommercial is not an OSI-approved open source license because it restricts the field of use.

What may I do without asking?

• Use it privately, for hobby projects, for learning and experimentation
• Use it for research and teaching, at universities and public research organisations
• Use it at charitable organisations, educational institutions, government bodies, public safety, health and environmental protection organisations — regardless of how they are funded
• Fork it, modify it, build new works on it
• Redistribute it, as long as the purpose remains non-commercial

What requires a commercial license?

Any commercial use. This includes:

• Running Shortlink inside a business, even purely internally
• Offering it as a hosted service, paid or free, as part of a commercial operation
• Bundling it into a commercial product
• Using it in client projects as an agency or freelancer

If you are unsure which side of the line you are on, ask: kontakt@peuser.dev

I am a non-profit but I charge fees. Am I covered?

The license covers charitable organisations, educational institutions, public research organisations, public safety or health organisations, environmental protection organisations and government institutions "regardless of the source of funding or obligations resulting from the funding". Fee income does not automatically remove you from that category. When in doubt, ask.

What do I have to pass on when redistributing?

Anyone who receives any part of the software from you must also receive the license terms (or the URL to them) and every Required Notice: line the licensor provided. Keep LICENSE.md intact and do not strip the file headers.

May I sublicense it?

No. The license explicitly does not allow you to sublicense or transfer your licenses to anyone else. The licensor remains the only source of licenses.

What happens if I breach the license?

The first time you are notified in writing, your licenses can continue if you come into full compliance and take practical steps to correct past violations within 32 days of receiving notice. Otherwise all your licenses end immediately.

Are patents covered?

Yes — the license includes a patent license for patent claims the licensor can license. If you claim in writing that the software infringes a patent, your patent license ends immediately.

Is there a warranty?

No. The software is provided as is, without warranty or condition, and the licensor is not liable for damages, as far as the law allows.

May Shortlink include GPL code?

No. The copyleft obligations of GPL, LGPL and AGPL are incompatible with the non-commercial restriction of PolyForm. Dependencies under MIT, BSD, Apache 2.0 and ISC are unproblematic. Please check the license of any dependency before adding it — see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Can the license change later?

Yes. The Contributor License Agreement gives the Project Owner the right to relicense the project, including contributions, under different terms. Contributors retain a perpetual right of use in their own contributions, so a license change never strips a contributor of access to their own code. Any release already published under PolyForm Noncommercial stays available under those terms — a license change applies going forward.

How do I get a commercial license?

Contact kontakt@peuser.dev with a short description of the intended use (organisation, deployment scale, whether it is internal or customer-facing).

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Kurzfassung auf Deutsch

Shortlink steht unter der PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 — source available, nicht Open Source.

Frei: private Nutzung, Hobby, Lernen, Forschung und Lehre, gemeinnützige Organisationen, Bildungseinrichtungen, Behörden. Auch Fork, Bearbeitung und Weitergabe, solange der Zweck nicht kommerziell ist.

Lizenzpflichtig: jede kommerzielle Nutzung — auch der rein interne Einsatz in einem Unternehmen, der Betrieb als Dienst, die Bündelung in einem kommerziellen Produkt und der Einsatz in Kundenprojekten.

Weitergabe: Lizenztext bzw. dessen URL und alle Required Notice:-Zeilen müssen mitgegeben werden. Unterlizenzierung ist ausgeschlossen.

Bei Verstoß: 32 Tage Heilungsfrist nach schriftlicher Mitteilung.

Anfragen für kommerzielle Lizenzen: kontakt@peuser.dev