I’m uncertain if the GPLv3 [1], or something from Creative Commons [3], like the CC-BY-SA [2] license, would be appropriate for open source hardware. I’ve come across the CERN-OHL-S [4], which appears interesting, but I’ve never encountered it in the wild, so I’m wary of it’s apparent obscurity.

References
  1. Type: Webpage. Title: “GNU General Public License”. Publisher: “GNU Operating System”. Accessed: 2025-09-04T21:29Z. URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html.
  2. Type: Webpage. Title: “Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International”. Publisher: “Creative Commons”. Accessed: 2025-09-04T21:30Z. URI: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en.
  3. Type: Webpage. Title: “About CC Licenses”. Publisher: “Creative Commons”. Accessed: 2025-04-09T21:31Z. URI: https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/.
  4. Type: Text. Title: “CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 - Strongly Reciprocal”. Publisher: “CERN”. Accessed: 2025-04-09T21:33Z. URI: https://gitlab.com/ohwr/project/cernohl/-/wikis/uploads/819d71bea3458f71fba6cf4fb0f2de6b/cern_ohl_s_v2.txt.
  • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml
    7·
    9 days ago
    License Type Example License(s) Can someone “pull the ladder up” after building on your work? Can you integrate their improvements freely? Notes
    🟥 Strong Copyleft CERN-OHL-S, GPLv3 ❌ No — downstream must open their changes ✅ Yes — everyone must share improvements Keeps the community free, but restricts proprietary use
    🟧 Weak Copyleft CERN-OHL-W, LGPL ⚠️ Limited — changes to original must be open, but addons can be closed ✅ Mostly — improvements to original are open Allows extensions/plugins to be proprietary
    🟨 Permissive CERN-OHL-P, Solderpad, MIT ✅ Yes — downstream can close everything ❌ No — unless you get permission, you can’t use their closed changes Maximizes adoption, but allows ladder-pulling
    🟦 Dual Licensing GPL + commercial, or CLA-based ⚠️ Controlled — you allow copyleft for the public, but retain rights for commercial licensing ✅ Yes — you retain full rights via CLA Good if you want community contributions and a commercial option
    ⚪ Documentation-only (CC-BY, etc.) CC-BY, CC-BY-SA ⚠️ Depends — not designed for functional hardware, may not protect source ❌ Unclear — source availability not enforceable Use only for manuals, not functional designs