licensor
A CLI tool that writes standard SPDX licenses to stdout, with optional copyright holder and exception support.
What is licensor?
Licensor is a command-line utility that outputs license text directly to standard output given an SPDX license identifier. It simplifies adding licenses to new projects by providing accurate, unmodified license templates compiled directly into the binary, eliminating the need to manually search for or edit license files.
Developers and project maintainers who frequently create new software projects and need to quickly generate standardized license files without external dependencies or network access.
Developers choose licensor for its SPDX compliance, ensuring license accuracy, and its single-binary design that works offline with all licenses embedded, offering a reliable and simple alternative to web-based license generators or manual file handling.
Overview
write licenses to stdout
Use Cases
Best For
- Quickly generating license files for new software projects via the command line.
- Ensuring license text accuracy by using official SPDX license list templates.
- Working offline or in environments without network access, as all licenses are compiled into the binary.
- Handling licenses with SPDX 'WITH' exception expressions, such as Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception.
- Skipping optional copyright notices where permitted by the Berne convention for cleaner output.
- Automating license file creation in scripts or build processes without external dependencies.
Not Ideal For
- Projects requiring custom license templates with dynamic placeholders beyond copyright holder names.
- Teams that need to fetch or update licenses dynamically from the internet without recompiling the tool.
- Applications integrating license generation into a web-based GUI rather than command-line interfaces.
- Use cases demanding license validation or compatibility analysis, as licensor only outputs text without checking.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Licenses are sourced directly from the official SPDX license list, ensuring accuracy and standardization without modifications, as emphasized in the README.
All licenses are compiled into a single binary at build time, allowing usage without network access or external files, which is ideal for isolated environments.
Handles SPDX 'WITH' expressions like 'Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception', enabling accurate output for licenses with specific modifications.
Allows optional inclusion of copyright holder names and can skip copyright notices where permitted by the Berne convention, providing cleaner output when needed.
Cons
Licenses are embedded at compile time; adding new ones requires editing JSON files and regenerating code via subcrates, which is cumbersome for runtime updates.
As stated in the README, features like license validation are not planned, making it unsuitable for checking license compatibility or correctness.
Only supports licenses from the SPDX list; custom or proprietary licenses cannot be added without significant code changes, restricting flexibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
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