Licenses#
Balospe.com uses two licensing frameworks, each designed for a different purpose. Both are grounded in the principle that existential emergencies require radical openness, while long-term stability requires that published versions cannot be silently rewritten.
They answer different questions. JoLi answers may I use and share this? CyLi is meant to answer can I trust that this version will still say the same thing later?
The Jonah License (JoLi)#
The Jonah License places content in the public domain under CC0, with an additional moral appeal: use this content gentle kind reasonably to avert Armageddon, version and date your changes if you can, and prepare to explain on Judgement Day what you failed to do with it.
JoLi is the primary license for all content on this site and for all FeedbackFlow submissions.
Status: MockupModel v1 (JoLi MMv1_2024m10d18) — in force.
Two ways to read it:
The Jonah License page — the full text of JoLi MMv1, its purpose, a reply to the charge that its language amounts to moral blackmail, and the printable 2-page handout.
The 2-page JoLi introduction — the same four core terms as an exhibit page in the Good News Pack catalogue.
The Cyrus License (CyLi) — not drafted yet#
The Cyrus License is intended to make StayVS institutionally reliable. Its core principle:
What has been published cannot be revoked, but newer versions can be published.
StayVS already does this technically — every published version is a permanent record, superseded rather than overwritten. What is missing is a reason for an outside institution to rely on that. CyLi is meant to bind the author, not just the reader.
Status: Informal draft (CyLi MMv0r1_2026m03d31). No license terms exist yet, and none are stated on the CyLi page — text that merely sounded like a license would claim an authority nobody has granted. The CyLi page records the principle, the intended scope (site content under StayVS versioning), how it relates to JoLi, and five open questions where help is welcome.