bookdown Re-licensing bookdown as MIT

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We are systematically re-licensing rstudio packages to use the MIT license, to make our package licenses as clear and permissive as possible. To do so, we need the approval of all copyright holders, which I have found by reviewing contributions from all all non-RStudio contributors. Would you permit us to re-license bookdown with the MIT license? If so, please comment "I agree" below.

[x] @maelle
[x] @dataopt
[x] @jtbayly
[x] @shirdekel
[x] @ThierryO
[x] @jtr13
[ ] @WeeBeasties
[ ] @shenfei
[ ] @RLesur
[x] @adamvi
[x] @rstub
[x] @prdm0
[ ] @Triceraflops
[x] @ellisvalentiner
[x] @dshuman1
[ ] @Shuliyey
[x] @PeteHaitch
[x] @noamross
[x] @njbart
[x] @thisisnic
[ ] @shinneuro
[ ] @mterente
[x] @mbojan
[x] @MiWeiss
[x] @sachsmc
[x] @mnazarov
[ ] @markhymers
[x] @lselzer
[x] @lorenzwalthert
[x] @Pindar777
[ ] @Emaasit
[ ] @yasirs
[x] @snipfoo
[ ] @mlamias
[x] @king2bob
[ ] @hugohomem
[ ] @helmingstay
[ ] @fyears
[ ] @FvD
[ ] @bubifengyun
[ ] @notZaki
[ ] @chadyuu
[x] @yixuan
[x] @wibeasley
[ ] @vfulco
[ ] @data-steve
[x] @sahirbhatnagar
[x] @Robinlovelace
[x] @rblades
[x] @scarnecchia
[ ] @EconomiCurtis
[ ] @tzerk
[ ] @ismayc
[ ] @briandk
[ ] @Blake-Madden
[ ] @bernd-steinert-itc
[ ] @benmarwick
[ ] @bquast
[ ] @apreshill
[ ] @acebulsk
[ ] @samuel-rosa
[ ] @rudeboybert
[ ] @flyaflya
[ ] @kevinrue
[ ] @bblodfon
[ ] @jrnold
[ ] @jacoblarget
[ ] @IndrajeetPatil
[ ] @hhmacedo
[ ] @Bisaloo
[ ] @homerhanumat
[ ] @espinielli
[ ] @emilopezcano
[ ] @atyre2
[ ] @Selbosh
[ ] @DavidLukeThiessen

Apr 25 '25 00:04 karangattu

I agree

Apr 25 '25 00:04 jtr13

I agree.

On Thu, Apr 24, 2025 at 8:23 PM Karan @.***> wrote:

karangattu created an issue (rstudio/bookdown#1497) https://github.com/rstudio/bookdown/issues/1497

We are systematically re-licensing rstudio packages to use the MIT license, to make our package licenses as clear and permissive as possible. To do so, we need the approval of all copyright holders, which I have found by reviewing contributions from all all non-RStudio contributors. Would you permit us to re-license bookdown with the MIT license? If so, please comment "I agree" below.

@maelle https://github.com/maelle

@dataopt https://github.com/dataopt

@jtbayly https://github.com/jtbayly

@shirdekel https://github.com/shirdekel

@ThierryO https://github.com/ThierryO

@jtr13 https://github.com/jtr13

@WeeBeasties https://github.com/WeeBeasties

@shenfei https://github.com/shenfei

@RLesur https://github.com/RLesur

@adamvi https://github.com/adamvi

@rstub https://github.com/rstub

@prdm0 https://github.com/prdm0

@Triceraflops https://github.com/Triceraflops

@ellisvalentiner https://github.com/ellisvalentiner

@dshuman1 https://github.com/dshuman1

@Shuliyey https://github.com/Shuliyey

@PeteHaitch https://github.com/PeteHaitch

@noamross https://github.com/noamross

@njbart https://github.com/njbart

@thisisnic https://github.com/thisisnic

@shinneuro https://github.com/shinneuro

@mterente https://github.com/mterente

@mbojan https://github.com/mbojan

@MiWeiss https://github.com/MiWeiss

@sachsmc https://github.com/sachsmc

@mnazarov https://github.com/mnazarov

@markhymers https://github.com/markhymers

@lselzer https://github.com/lselzer

@lorenzwalthert https://github.com/lorenzwalthert

@Pindar777 https://github.com/Pindar777

@Emaasit https://github.com/Emaasit

@yasirs https://github.com/yasirs

@snipfoo https://github.com/snipfoo

@mlamias https://github.com/mlamias

@king2bob https://github.com/king2bob

@hugohomem https://github.com/hugohomem

@helmingstay https://github.com/helmingstay

@fyears https://github.com/fyears

@FvD https://github.com/FvD

@bubifengyun https://github.com/bubifengyun

@notZaki https://github.com/notZaki

@chadyuu https://github.com/chadyuu

@yixuan https://github.com/yixuan

@wibeasley https://github.com/wibeasley

@vfulco https://github.com/vfulco

@data-steve https://github.com/data-steve

@sahirbhatnagar https://github.com/sahirbhatnagar

@Robinlovelace https://github.com/Robinlovelace

@rblades https://github.com/rblades

@scarnecchia https://github.com/scarnecchia

@EconomiCurtis

@tzerk

@ismayc

@briandk

@Blake-Madden

@bernd-steinert-itc

@benmarwick

@bquast

@apreshill

@acebulsk

@samuel-rosa

@rudeboybert

@flyaflya

@kevinrue

@bblodfon

@jrnold

@jacoblarget

@IndrajeetPatil

@hhmacedo

@Bisaloo

@homerhanumat

@espinielli

@emilopezcano

@atyre2

@Selbosh

@DavidLukeThiessen

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/rstudio/bookdown/issues/1497, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AG5H4MXVXLR45ZPAXWIG35323F6BRAVCNFSM6AAAAAB32K4PDGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZTGAYTQNZQGQZDGMI . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

Apr 25 '25 00:04 dataopt

I agree

Apr 25 '25 00:04 noamross

Agree!

Apr 25 '25 00:04 scarnecchia

I agree.

Apr 25 '25 01:04 jtbayly

I agree

Apr 25 '25 01:04 sahirbhatnagar

I agree.

Apr 25 '25 02:04 yixuan

@karangattu: Is there any information anywhere on why this anti GPL-policy was picked up? Personally as a user I do not see any limitations in the current license that the MIT license would solve.

Apr 25 '25 04:04 mschilli87

I agree

Apr 25 '25 04:04 MiWeiss

No objections. Like @mschilli87 I'd be interested in the reasoning: what will improve as a result of this proposed change?

Apr 25 '25 05:04 Robinlovelace

I agree

Apr 25 '25 05:04 maelle

I agree

Apr 25 '25 05:04 snipfoo

I agree

On Fri, Apr 25, 2025, 08:54 snipfoo @.***> wrote:

snipfoo left a comment (rstudio/bookdown#1497) https://github.com/rstudio/bookdown/issues/1497#issuecomment-2829440711

I agree

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/rstudio/bookdown/issues/1497#issuecomment-2829440711, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABJWA6LCPKF3Z56ERERH4AL23HEZDAVCNFSM6AAAAAB32K4PDGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDQMRZGQ2DANZRGE . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

Apr 25 '25 06:04 sachsmc

I agree.

Apr 25 '25 08:04 Pindar777

I agree.

Apr 25 '25 09:04 njbart

I agree

On Apr 25, 2025, at 5:01 AM, Nick Bart @.***> wrote:

[FROM AN EXTERNAL SENDER]

njbart left a comment

(rstudio/bookdown#1497) https://github.com/rstudio/bookdown/issues/1497#issuecomment-2829803299 I agree.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/rstudio/bookdown/issues/1497#issuecomment-2829803299, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AFRKI2V7GK6JROEVTXU3CVL23H2U7AVCNFSM6AAAAAB32K4PDGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDQMRZHAYDGMRZHE. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.

Apr 25 '25 09:04 dshuman1

I agree

Apr 25 '25 10:04 rblades

I agree

Apr 25 '25 12:04 rstub

Like @mschilli87 and @Robinlovelace, I would like to know why the GPL is a problem and for whom.

Apr 25 '25 12:04 ThierryO

I also would like to know why the GPL is a problem

Apr 25 '25 13:04 lselzer

i agree

Apr 25 '25 14:04 wibeasley

@hadley explained his take here a few years ago, when the Tidyverse made the same switch. The whole thread is worth reading if you're interested in the implications of switching.

For packages under the rstudio organization, there's the additional issue of Contributor License Agreements, which we (are supposed to) require from every contributor to a GPL-licensed project. They're annoying for contributors, annoying for us to collect and maintain, unevenly enforced, and give the project owners (Posit) too much power. Our only reason for requiring CLAs is to allow us to move to a different GPL license or a more liberal license, but legally, it also gives us the power to relicense contributions to a commercial license (known as a "rug pull").

Once we switch to MIT, we'll stop asking for CLAs (except in special situations like dual-licensed codebases, e.g., RStudio IDE) so you won't have to simply trust us not to rug pull, at least for any contributions from that point on.

Frankly, we weren't expecting people to have any reaction to this change, as practically nobody thinks R packages are subject to copyleft (certainly not R Core nor Posit)--so let us know if we've missed something!

Apr 25 '25 22:04 jcheng5

@jcheng5 thanks for the link. Having read that, I agree.

Apr 26 '25 01:04 lselzer

I agree

Apr 26 '25 14:04 ellisvalentiner

I agree. @karangattu maybe change the title of the issue so people notice that they need to agree for this to proceed (like licensing book down as MIT requires all authors (you) to agree)? I almost ignored the notification, since I thought 'I am not interested in this'.