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Cake day: June 3rd, 2024

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  • Journic looka pretty cool anf i want to try it, but I only use FOSS software whenever possible and Journiv is not under an open source license. The debatably-FOSS license covers the server and prohibits commercial use, which i dont like but maybe could live wirh, but the web client’s license is not debatable: it is clearly not FOSS because it’s proprietary software owned and copyrighted by Swalab Tech and is not licensed under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0.

    Here’s an LLM’s summary of why it’s not FOSS: The PolyForm‑Noncommercial 1.0.0 is a non‑commercial license that blocks any commercial use of the code without a separate written agreement. That places it near the bottom of most freedom scales, such as the Open Source Definition or the Free Software Definition. FOSS people would point out that the licence allows use, copy and modification for personal or non‑commercial purposes but disallows commercial deployment or monetised use, so it fails the “freedom” test. The licence also requires contributors to assign all rights to the owner, which removes copyright retention and any freedom to license derivatives. Because the web client is explicitly excluded from the licence and cannot be hosted or redistributed as part of a service, the package is effectively a hybrid licence that is not accepted as open source. On a freedom scale of 0 to 100, it would be roughly 10–20, and FOSS communities would typically call it “not open source” or “proprietary‑style” and advise against using it in a truly FOSS project.