Simputer General Public License
Encyclopedia
The Simputer General Public License, or the SGPL is an open content
hardware distribution license
drafted specifically for the purpose of distributing Simputer
s. As a license it has been loosely modeled on the GPL
but in substance it is very different.
The Simputer specifications are released under the terms and conditions of the SGPL. This license permits the user to build a Simputer based upon the specifications and to use the Simputer for non-commercial purposes. Any modifications made to the Simputer specifications may be used exclusively by the person making those modifications with no obligation to release the same to the public domain. However, within 12 months from the date of the first public sale of the Simputer based on these modified specifications, the person who created these modified specifications is bound to disclose the specifications to the Simputer Trust.
The Simputers manufactured under the SGPL are required to be certified by the Simputer Trust before they are allowed to be sold under the Simputer trademark. In order to be so certified they must fulfill the Core Simputer Specifications as disclosed on the simputer website.
All Simputers developed under the specifications must be distributed under the same terms as the SGPL.
Open content
Open content or OpenContent is a neologism coined by David Wiley in 1998 which describes a creative work that others can copy or modify. The term evokes open source, which is a related concept in software....
hardware distribution license
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
drafted specifically for the purpose of distributing Simputer
Simputer
The Simputer is a self-contained, open hardware Linux-based handheld computer, first released in 2002. Developed in, and primarily distributed within India, the product was envisioned as a low-cost alternative to personal computers...
s. As a license it has been loosely modeled on the GPL
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
but in substance it is very different.
The Simputer specifications are released under the terms and conditions of the SGPL. This license permits the user to build a Simputer based upon the specifications and to use the Simputer for non-commercial purposes. Any modifications made to the Simputer specifications may be used exclusively by the person making those modifications with no obligation to release the same to the public domain. However, within 12 months from the date of the first public sale of the Simputer based on these modified specifications, the person who created these modified specifications is bound to disclose the specifications to the Simputer Trust.
The Simputers manufactured under the SGPL are required to be certified by the Simputer Trust before they are allowed to be sold under the Simputer trademark. In order to be so certified they must fulfill the Core Simputer Specifications as disclosed on the simputer website.
All Simputers developed under the specifications must be distributed under the same terms as the SGPL.