Blogging Roller

Tim Bray: I wonder if I’m weird, because I discover that my attitudes towards code and, non-code are different. The notion of restricting anyone from using code I contribute to feels entirely foreign, and if they want to use it to make some money, good on ’em. But I have strong negative feelings about other people making money from my words or pictures without involving me.

I don't think that's weird at all. I feel the same way and almost without thinking I chose the Creative Commons by-nc-sa license for my blog, but for my code I prefer the Apache license, which is just about the most commercial friendly license there is.

I agree with Mark Pilgrim that chosing a license with a no-commercial-use restriction is by definition more restrictive than chosing an open source license, but I wouldn't say it's overly restrictive. And I hold no grudge against Creative Commons. Writers, artists and musicians should be free to choose the license terms they like and that's why Creative Commons is a good thing -- it helps folks to do just that.