Add an icon/ key for Free Software

[xtbqimuxmvtx]

Vi and the unix philosophy are a big part of programming and derived Vi / emacs binding interfaces for programs. Therefore since vi/vim/nvim/emacs are Free and Open Source software; there's an enormous overlap with people who only use Free Software such as the GNU/Linux operating system and want vim keybindings.

It's a pain to have to click through the list and check the license to discover something is Proprietary / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED freeware and then search for an alternative (example; mycli)

You seem to indicate cost ("free"); but never license; please add an icon to indicate cost-free (gratis; freeware) and Free (FLOSS; unencumbered software).

[erikw]

Hello,

I see your concern about using software with a specific type of license or usage agreement. That is very understandable.

The initial aim (at least) with this list was to gather the total of tools that natively work with keybindings and thinking of the Vi modal editors or similar keybindings. Some thoughts:

• It would significantly raise the bar for contribution to this list, as every contributor must find the license and understand it. Thus, going against the initial aim of this list (the aim can evolve, of course!).
• License can change over time, making the list outdated.
• A review of all current items would be needed to update them.

I would think that if one is interested in starting to use a program that has VI-like navigation, one would look in that corresponding category in this list and click a few links. As a part of scanning through the features of the program, would would probably quickly notice if it's a free (of some kind) or a paid program. My thinking is that if one is very much interested in using programs adhering to specific licenses, one would probably check out the actual source code repo anyway, instead of trusting someone else's understanding of the license in a vim-keybindings-list?

From that reasoning, maybe just a label "non-free" or "paid" in this list could be a compromise, as it's easier to determine that something is non-free than what is "free" as this can have many meanings and interpretations. Putting the burden on every contributor of this list to determine/link to the exact license is a bit too much, I feel.

I'll leave the issue open and see if other/similar takes from other users are raised :)

Edit.

Thinking this through a bit more, it's not necessarily easier to say that a program is "non-free". There are just too many different models and understandings of those.

I lean towards considering the licensing and monetary compensation for software usage as one of the features that every individual looks up when deciding to use a program or not. Just as license or monetary cost is a main factor for some, for others it could be if the program is installable with their favorite program manager/download tool. Thus, I think it might be better to keep the list simple, easy to contribute to, and focus on which programs have native Vi-like behavior, and those that can be configured to mimic such :).

[xtbqimuxmvtx]

Thanks for a well-reasoned response. I'm sure there's a simple solution and I agree this is a very simple project and that's what brings value.

Perhaps just mimicking Github's license tag so you can see: BSD 3-clause; MIT; Unlicense; GPL or "Custom license" so that for free software enthusiasts "Custom license" will raise a flag. Or just statically link to their license.md which will account for changes in licensing.