2026-08-27 15:15:19 -05:00
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# Licensing
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This project is under **two** licences, because it has to be.
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| Path | Licence |
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|---|---|
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2026-08-28 08:26:38 -05:00
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| `Schematics/`, `Documents/`, `README.md` | **CC BY-NC-SA 4.0** — [`LICENSES/CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0.txt`](LICENSES/CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0.txt) |
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| `Firmware/` | **GPL-2.0-or-later** — [`LICENSES/GPL-2.0.txt`](LICENSES/GPL-2.0.txt) |
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| `Documents/*.PDF` | Third-party vendor datasheets. Not mine to license. |
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2026-08-27 15:15:19 -05:00
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## The hardware: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Build one, change it, share what you change — but don't sell it.
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- **BY** — credit the original.
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- **NC** — no commercial use.
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- **SA** — derivatives must carry this same licence.
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### Two things to be clear about
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**This is not "open source" or "open hardware" by the formal definitions.** Both
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the OSI and OSHWA definitions require permitting commercial use, so a
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NonCommercial term disqualifies it. That is a deliberate choice here, not an
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oversight — but it means OSHWA will not certify it, some people will decline to
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contribute on principle, and it cannot be called open source without being
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wrong.
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**"NonCommercial" is genuinely fuzzy.** Creative Commons defines it as use "not
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primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary
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compensation." That leaves real ambiguity: a fab house charging to make you a
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board is fine, a company using it internally is arguable, someone selling
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assembled units is not. Enforcement is on the copyright holder.
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## The firmware: GPL-2.0, and it cannot be otherwise
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Anything derived from QMK is GPL-2.0, and **the GPL explicitly permits
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commercial use**. A NonCommercial restriction cannot be added to GPL-derived
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code — doing so would violate the GPL and make the result undistributable.
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So the firmware in this repo is GPL-2.0-or-later. Someone may legally sell
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firmware derived from it. That is not a gap in the licensing; it is the price of
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building on QMK, and there is no version of this project where it isn't true.
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The hardware restriction still stands on its own: the thing you would need to
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*build and sell* is the board, and that is NC.
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