TldrLegal – Software Licenses Explained in Plain English
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Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderThis seems quite nice. Two things I'd love to see, which would make it even more handy: - I'd love to see each license that has a standard SPDX identifier (https://spdx.org/licenses/) include that identifier as metadata in its tldrlegal record. (And ideally tldrlegal.com should have a standard URL to reach the one-and-only license corresponding to a given SPDX identifier.) - I'd love to see standardized tags for OSI-compliant Open Source licenses, GNU-approved Free Software licenses, GPLv2-compatible licenses, and…
Just two cents: 1) It shows no differences between GPLv2 and GPLv3. It's not a good sign. 2) I would put shitloads of banners everywhere saying that you're using this site at your own risk.
The YouTube license TLDR says "Don't download" yet the Red service offers offline viewing. So my concern would be that the summaries might cause more confusion, especially arrive premium features. EDIT: fixed typo
Previously discussed https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4193152
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 513
- Total comments
- 154
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-07-03 | Lookup any software license shortly summarized in plain EnglishFirst breakout | sajithw | 147 | 55 |
| 2013-07-04 | tl;drLegal | alexchamberlain | 2 | 0 |
| 2013-07-27 | Open Source Licenses Explained in Plain English | rtcoms | 1 | 0 |
| 2014-02-19 | Software Licenses in Plain English | seanbehan | 2 | 0 |
| 2014-03-09 | TldrLegal – Software Licenses Explained in Plain EnglishBest thread · Latest 20+ point return | kissgyorgy | 321 | 95 |
| 2015-02-04 | Tl;drLegal | colund | 2 | 0 |
| 2015-06-08 | Tl;dr Legal | LukeB_UK | 3 | 0 |
| 2015-11-26 | TLDRLegal – Software Licenses Explained in Plain English | yitchelle | 3 | 0 |
| 2016-12-07 | tl;dr Legal : Software Licenses in Plain English | pvsukale3 | 18 | 3 |
| 2017-01-24 | Software Licenses in Simple English | uberneo | 2 | 0 |
| 2021-09-13 | Software Licenses in Plain English | diplodocusaur | 4 | 1 |
| 2022-06-18 | TLDRLegal – Software Licenses Explained in Plain English | behnamoh | 8 | 0 |