Brussels / 4 & 5 February 2023

schedule

REUSE

The gold standard of communicating licensing and copyright information


Developing, using, and re-using Free Software is fun, but declaring licensing and copyright information is not. REUSE changes that. With three simple steps, it makes declaring licensing and copyright information unambiguous and perfectly human- and machine-readable, making life easier for everyone involved in the software supply chain. In this presentation, we will present the latest learnings from big projects that recently became REUSE-compliant. In addition, we will provide you with an update on the latest features of the REUSE CLI tool.

As software has gotten more complex over the last years, the importance of declaring licensing information has become even more crucial. The FSFE's REUSE initiative contributes to the goal of clearly displaying legal information in Free Software projects by embedding it into every file of the repository. Any project following the REUSE recommendations makes copyright and licensing information readable for both humans and machines. We ensure that individuals, organisations, and companies that are reusing code are aware of and respect the licence terms chosen by its original author, thus facilitating the communication of this legal information among everyone involved in the software supply chain.

REUSE integrates seamlessly into development processes and other best practices of indicating Free Software licences. In addition, there are tools and documentation to help you get started. During this talk, we will take you through the learnings of large projects becoming REUSE compliant (e.g. curl or GNUHealth) and present the latest features of our REUSE helper tool, which makes declaring license information a quick and fun endeavour.

Speakers

Photo of Linus Sehn Linus Sehn

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