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Things that are not «features» of an app:
- The license
- The technologies it uses
- The fact that it’s simple
- The application it’s an alternative to
Your app should be compelling on its own. What makes it worth using? How can it help people? Highlight those things instead!
in reply to Brage Fuglseth

I wouldn't advertise the licence per say, but that it is foss is important politics and refusing to communicate to users is an admission that software politics don't matter to your project. Part of the project is always going to be explaining patiently and persistently why foss is important to a public that doesn't care yet.
in reply to Abandoned

there is a difference between:

• An app store summary (as pictured in the thread)
• A README
• Project license fields in AppStream

A software license probably makes sense to mention in a README, and any AppStream-using app store will show license information pulled from the appropriate AppStream tags. You don’t need to put it in the summary which is treated like a headline. 😉

Nobody is suggesting you *refuse* to communicate anything.

in reply to Cassidy James Blaede

I think you've missed the point I was trying to make.

Though now you bring it up. Why are app stores showing the specific license. That seems a bit too specific for user focused UI.

in reply to Abandoned

But those users are the other party of the license, i.e., the agreement is between the developer(s) and the software's users.

gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.htm…

In a modern technocentric society, it's very important for people to understand the terms of their use of software that mediates their daily life.

(That said, I'm a big advocate for plain-language explanation of license terms!)

@cassidy @bragefuglseth

This entry was edited (1 year ago)
in reply to Michael Downey 🚩

@downey @doctormo this, exactly. :)

GNOME Software, anyway, doesn’t expose specific license details in a technical way—it uses it as one of many signals to show off the app. If it has a FOSS license, it's *one* of the components that gives it a nice big ✅ for "Safety" (and it exposes the actual license if you dig in for details).

I do think the collaborative/community-based nature is a great thing for an app's description, fwiw, especially if it is unique among its peers.

Unknown parent

in reply to Michael Downey 🚩

@downey @doctormo @cassidy Technically true, but not relevant. See e.g. GNU (A)GPLv3 §9: "9. Acceptance Not Required for Having Copies.”