readme: rewrite the license section

This commit is contained in:
Andrew Kelley 2020-10-21 19:55:35 -07:00
parent 7d0acacfc3
commit b61733a4b8

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@ -111,16 +111,20 @@ stage2/bin/zig build install -Drelease
The ultimate goal of the Zig project is to serve users. As a first-order
effect, this means users of the compiler, helping programmers to write better
code. Even more important, however, are the end users.
software. Even more important, however, are the end users.
Zig is intended to be used to help end users accomplish their goals. For
example, it would be inappropriate and offensive to use Zig to implement
[dark patterns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern) and it would be
shameful to utilize Zig to exploit people instead of benefit them.
Zig is intended to be used to help **end users** accomplish their goals. Zig
should be used to empower end users, never to exploit them financially or to
limit their freedom to interact with hardware or software in any way.
However, such problems are best solved with social norms, not with software
licenses. Any attempt to complicate the software license of Zig would risk
compromising the value Zig provides to users.
compromising the value Zig provides.
Therefore, Zig is available under the MIT (Expat) License, and comes with a
humble request: use it to make software better serve the needs of end users.
This project redistributes code from other projects, some of which have other
licenses besides MIT. Such licenses are generally similar to the MIT license
for practical purposes. See the subdirectories and files inside lib/ for more
details.