Open source license

[aquavitae]

I need to write a couple of scripts which will probably end up being used in a closed source program. I want my scripts to be open source, but I don't want to place any restrictions on how they are used. The BSD licenseseems the best, but I don't want the license itself to have to be included with every use of the scripts. As far as I can tell, the BSD license requires that the license be included with every distribution of the code (binary and source), but I want to remove this restriction.

My question is, if I do this will it still be open-source? It seems like a bit of a grey area which I don't really understand!

[Bachstelze]

I'm not a lawyer, but I believe people must know what they have and have not the right to do with the code. If you don't include the license, they will not. Even if it's just "You have the right to do anything with it." (which would be a perfectly valid license, by the way), it would still have to be included with the code.

[mssever]

You could place your code in the public domain, which would mean there are no restrictions whatsoever on the code, and thus no license at all. At least in the US. I understand that some countries don't allow you to fully give up all control.

[aquavitae]

I'm still going to include the license with my code, I just don't want to force the same licence onto anyone downstream. I want my license to say "use it how you want, and change or remove the licence as you want". That, too, is a perfectly ligitimate license, but is it truely open source?

[aquavitae]

You could place your code in the public domain, which would mean there are no restrictions whatsoever on the code, and thus no license at all. At least in the US. I understand that some countries don't allow you to fully give up all control.
What exactly do you mean by the public domain, and how would I do that? I'm not in the US, I'm in South Africa, but I don't know if its allowed here.

[mssever]

I'm still going to include the license with my code, I just don't want to force the same licence onto anyone downstream. I want my license to say "use it how you want, and change or remove the licence as you want". That, too, is a perfectly ligitimate license, but is it truely open source?
There are a number of such licenses. Go to the Open Source Initiative site. They have a bunch of info on that kind of stuff. See especially the Open Source Definition and the list of OSI-approved licenses.

What exactly do you mean by the public domain, and how would I do that? I'm not in the US, I'm in South Africa, but I don't know if its allowed here.
I assume that South African law is based in English common law, in which case you're probably fine. But see Wikipedia on this. They've got quite a lot of country-specific info, because it's relevant to their project.

[aquavitae]

I did have a look at the OSI site, but they are not explicit on this issue, which is why I was hoping someone here might know a bit more about it. SA law is based on english and dutch. I'm still not sure how putting it in the public domain differs from using a permissive open source licence though.