Work in progress - please contribute!
- The AAL is a Software License which can be added to any Open Source or Closed Source software.
- It expresses the wish that the software only be used for the betterment of humanity.
- A moral burden is placed on those who license the software.
- This License is enforceable only in the court of public opinion.
AAL are the initials of Augusta Ada Lovelace - one of the pioneers of early computing.
This License is named in her memory.
- Augusta Ada Lovelace's
- Altruistic
- License
As per noble tradition, AAL's Altruistic License is infinitely recursive. It asymptotically approaches the name of the "prophet of the computer age".
We hear a lot about The Turing Test. What about a "Lovelace Test"; how will this machine benefit mankind?
Dr Betty Toole - author of Ada, The Enchantress of Numbers: Poetical Science
Proposed at Oxford University's Ada Lovelace Symposium
http://livestream.com/oxuni/lovelace/videos/106622100 at 32 minutes 10 seconds
NB This is unrelated to the similarly named test for creativity in artificial intelligence
Moral relativism tells us that there can be no universally accepted definition of moral or altruistic behaviour.
A vaccine can save lives but, in the wrong hands, may be a deadly weapon, a knife can be used to prepare food or maim people, a nuclear missile may kill millions or may well be used to save the planet.
This License does not restrict the way you use the software; restriction of use is incompatible with most recognised Open Source Licenses.
This License asks that you respect the wishes of the software's author(s) and fully reflect on whether your use of the software is helping make the world a better place.
If it is not, the only consequences are your own feelings of guilt and to be held in opprobrium by those who follow this License.
Work in progress - please contribute!
- Having seen how computers and their software can bring untold sorrow to mankind, and
- to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of all users, and
- to establish conditions under which software can be used for the betterment of all humanity, and
- to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.
Accordingly, we humbly beg that users of this software carefully consider whether their use of this software contributes to the betterment of humanity and the ecological health of the planet.
If this software is used in a way that harms people or the planet, may Madame Puff - Ada's beloved cat - forever hide dead birds in your chimney.
The following links have influenced the construction of this License. (Alphabetical order.)