If Blanket uses a GPL 3.0 license, why does Blankie have an MIT license?

[codybrom]

Blankie was deeply inspired by Blanket, which is an excellent open-source project written in Python for Linux. As someone who loves Linux, GNOME, and the open-source ethos, creating Blankie was a way for me to bring similar functionality to macOS while I learned SwiftUI. While Blankie carries on the spirit of Blanket, it’s a completely original project with no shared code.

I chose the MIT license for Blankie for several reasons, all rooted in respect for the open-source ecosystem and the spirit of collaboration:

1. Respect for the GPL and the Ecosystem
   The GPL-3.0 license is a cornerstone of open-source software, designed to protect user freedoms and ensure that derivatives remain open-source. However, distributing software through the Mac App Store introduces DRM and other restrictions that are incompatible with the GPL’s principles, even for free apps. Since Blankie is designed for macOS and will be distributed via the Mac App Store, I chose not to license it under GPL-3.0 to avoid conflicting with these principles.

2. Choosing a Compatible License
   The MIT license is a permissive and widely recognized open-source license. It ensures that Blankie remains accessible to developers and users while aligning with the distribution requirements of the Mac App Store. This decision isn’t because I plan to charge for Blankie (I don’t). It’s entirely about selecting a license that allows the app to be distributed effectively on the Mac App Store while staying open-source.

3. A Tribute to Open-Source
   My love for projects like Blanket and the GNOME ecosystem is what inspired Blankie in the first place. By choosing a license that fits the Mac App Store environment while remaining true to open-source values, I aim to honor the spirit of collaboration that drove this project and ensure it can reach as many macOS users as possible, all without compromising its open-source nature or charging for it.

In the end, I went with the MIT license because it made the most sense for distributing Blankie on macOS, especially through the Mac App Store. I still love and respect the GPL and the projects that inspired me, like Blanket, but this felt like the right choice for this app and how I wanted to share it.

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Edit: To be clear, I don't consider myself an expert on licensing and haven't kept up with as much as I probably should. While I'm excited to bring Blankie to the Mac App Store, it will also be available as a binary from GitHub Releases. If it's possible for Blankie to be on the Mac App Store and still be in compliance with GPL-3.0+ I'm all for it, but I am not a lawyer and won't try to act like one.