Proposal: Changing License from AGPL-3.0 to MIT

[schuenke]

⚖️ Proposal: Changing License from AGPL-3.0 to MIT

Together with @m-a-x-i-m-z and the Pulseq team, we are initiating a discussion and vote to change the project's license from AGPL-3.0 (Affero General Public License v3.0) to the more permissive MIT License. This change requires the explicit agreement of all past and present contributors who hold copyright over their code contributions.

🎯 Motivation for the License Change

The motivation for this license change is two-fold:

1. Alignment with Upstream: The original MATLAB version of Pulseq uses the MIT license. Moving PyPulseq to MIT will standardize the licensing across both core implementations, simplifying compatibility and adoption for users working with both projects.
2. Addressing Contributor Concerns: @m-a-x-i-m-z pointed out that the strong copyleft nature of the AGPL-3.0 is a barrier for some current and potential contributors. It creates difficulties for individuals and organizations who might be restricted from contributing to or using projects under this license. Switching to the MIT license will make it easier for these users to contribute code, documentation, and other improvements, thus fostering a larger, more active contributor base.

↔️ The Key Difference: Strong Copyleft to Permissive

• AGPL-3.0 is a strong copyleft license. Its primary goal is to ensure the freedom of the software by requiring anyone who uses or modifies it to also share their full source code under the AGPL-3.0 license.

• The MIT License is a permissive license. It allows users to do almost anything with the code, including creating proprietary closed-source applications, as long as they include the original copyright and license notice. The MIT license is widely recommended for open-source projects.

✅ Contributor Agreement Checklist

We kindly request that all listed contributors below review this proposal and reply to this issue to confirm your agreement to re-license your contributions under the MIT License. Once you confirm, we will check your name off this list.

Please copy and paste the following reply to confirm: I agree to re-license my contributions to pypulseq under the MIT License.

• [x] @sravan953
• [x] @FrankZijlstra
• [x] @btasdelen
• [x] @schuenke
• [x] @sairamgeethanath
• [x] @mavel101
• [x] @imr-framework
• [x] @wtclarke
• [x] @h3lg3
• [x] @mcencini
• [ ] @tonggehua
• [x] @gabuzi
• [x] @tblazey
• [x] @fzimmermann89
• [x] @labarba
• [x] @skarrea
• [x] @nnmurthy
• [x] @Andrew-Dupuis
• [x] @felixlandmeyer
• [x] @jbbacon
• [x] @JohnEdChristensen
• [x] @yarikoptic
• [x] @ckolbPTB
• [x] @nikbert (contribution in open PR)
• [x] @markus-zimmermann (contribution in open PR)
• [x] @mzaiss (contribution in open PR)

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