Repository navigation
Include in permissions if reimplementation possible in other license #1247
Description
I could be wrong, but you cant reimplement in other license code that needs to be Same license.
But not sure that means the same, I remember listening a lot of time a go that you cant read linux kernel and then reimplement it what you learned from there (ie in windows kernel for a person working there and taking linux as example of similar thing) like for example microsoft/WSL#178 (comment)
I think it is important to highlight this issue with certain things, also this kind of license for books and documentation will make your implementation a derivate of what you learned from the docs.
Also, stressing my memory... I remember listening that there was a guy that worked on x company with A language but at night went to home and reimplemented all in B and later on it was the competition of the other company (I could be wrong) but it seems this was possible, but not if the license was Same license and not sure how applies copyright, license, copyleft, intellectual property.
So I can't stress how much is important if on permissions can you learn/reimplement/take ideas/see how others have done something.
If same license implies by exclusion reimplementable it would be nice to include that in the description of "same license".
Activity
veeara282 commentedon Jun 6, 2026
This is a great question. Basically, anyone can copy the ideas, algorithms, system design, etc. of a computer program (or, for that matter, a book about computer programming) without restriction, as long as they don't copy the text:
What the license governs is the copyrightable expression in the code: the creative selection, coordination, and arrangement of elements such as variable names, class/function/module structure, comments, etc. This is because the copyright is rooted in the text of the computer program, not its functionality or design.
A translation of a computer program (e.g. "Rewrite Bun in Rust", oven-sh/bun#30412) is a derivative work to the extent that it retains the copyrightable expression of the original program (e.g. variable names and module structure ported from Python to Rust), even if the code is rewritten to match the idioms of its target language. Therefore, it would still be subject to the original software license.
Tarekchehahde commentedon Jul 11, 2026
Opened #1363 — clarifies same-license rules vs clean-room reimplementation in rules.yml.
veeara282 commentedon Jul 18, 2026
Would a glossary page be useful, defining terms like "derivative work" and "combined work"?