ODbL License

Why we chose the ODbL License for Community Feed

The GPL is a license developed by the Free Software Foundation specifically for computer programs. It is not always a good fit for other copyrighted works and performances. For this reason, the Creative Commons licenses were developed for works of music, literature and art and the Open Database License v1.0 (ODbL-1.0) was designed by Open Data Commons for databases.
In our Community Feed, we must separate the individual scripts from the database that contains the collection of scripts. The Community Feed forms a database, so we consider the ODbL-1.0 to be the appropriate license, since it allows free reuse and, like the GPL, includes a copyleft that makes it clear that derived databases may only be redistributed under the terms of ODbL-1.0.

Duties for the redistribution of the database

  • In the documentation and in the database itself, the license text of the ODbL or a URL of the license text must be supplied.
  • Existing copyright notices and notices of the rights holders of the database must be preserved.
    If this is not technically possible, the notices can also be deposited in a usual and expectable location of the database system.
  • The note “Contains information from Greenbone Community Feed, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL)” must be displayed on the output based on the feed.
  • If a “Derivative Database” is distributed, a machine-readable copy of the Derivative Database or a file with all changes that have been made must be offered to the recipients of the Derivative Database. The copy or the file with the changes can be offered for download free of charge or can be sent for the production fee for the copy on a physical data carrier.
    Derivative Databases must be licensed as a whole under ODbL-1.0 (Copyleft/ShareAlike).
  • Technical protection measures (e.g., DRM) must not be used or the database must also be supplied free of charge without technical protection measures.
    No additional licensing obligations may be imposed on the Derivative Database that are not already included in ODbL-1.0.