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The Mutualist License
Download v1.3
Short ID MutuaL-1.3 Status current Clauses 15 Versions ›

Apply the license

Four easy steps to using MutuaL.

  1. Step one

    Copy the license file

    Save it as LICENSE.md in the root of your repository. This is what Notice turns on: a recipient must be able to find the license and the Credit block.

    Download LICENSE.md Read it first

    This is v1.3, the current release, published at the license's home. Its Short ID is MutuaL-1.3.

  2. Step two

    Fill in the Credit block

    The license starts with a Credit block. Put the name of your software, its project home, and the copyright holders in it. A copy that arrived with placeholders may keep them, but a project sharing MutuaL software for the first time should fill them in.

  3. Step three

    Add a notice to your README

    Not required, but helpful. Help users understand what the license permits without opening a second file.

    Mutualist License summary

    Permissions

    • ▪ Commercial use
    • ▪ Private / internal use
    • ▪ Modification
    • ▪ Distribution (source and binaries)
    • ▪ Network / SaaS use
    • ▪ Patent use (as described in the license)

    Conditions

    • ▸ Keep copyright, license, and credit notices (see "Credit" in the license)
    • ▸ Offer its source when you distribute a version people install and run
    • ▸ Share its source when others use your version over a network, or a service depends on it for core functionality
    • ▸ License shared copies under MutuaL (same license)
    • ▸ Don't add technical measures (like DRM) that stop users from exercising their rights
    • ▸ Patent peace: a patent attack on another licensee ends all your rights under this license

    Limitations

    • · No liability
    • · No warranty
    • · No trademark rights
    • · No implied endorsement

  4. Step four

    Add file headers and a badge

    An SPDX® header counts as a reasonable way to carry the notice. It is the standard machine-readable line that names the license, and MutuaL's identifier is MutuaL-1.3. Use the full Short ID to prevent upgrade confusion.

    File header example

    Use this in your source files (adapt to your language's comment conventions). Replace MutuaL-1.3 with MutuaL-1.3-only to lock this exact version.

    // SPDX-License-Identifier: MutuaL-1.3
// Copyright © [year] [copyright holder(s)]
//
// Licensed under the Mutualist License v1.3. See LICENSE.md for the full
// text, or https://mutualist.dev.
//
// You must:
// - keep shared copies under this license
// - offer source when you distribute the software, or let others use it over a network
// - keep the copyright, license, and credit notices
// - add no technical measures that stop users from exercising their rights
//
// Provided "AS IS", without warranties of any kind.

    Badge

    MutuaL-1.3

    Add this to your README:

    ![MutuaL-1.3](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MutuaL--1.3-af2e1a?style=flat&labelColor=110402&link=https%3A%2F%2Fmutualist.dev)

    For the -only variant, change MutuaL--1.3 to MutuaL--1.3--only:

    ![MutuaL-1.3-only](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MutuaL--1.3--only-af2e1a?style=flat&labelColor=110402&link=https%3A%2F%2Fmutualist.dev)