Credit the author.
Retain the original copyright notice. One line is enough. Don’t strip it out, don’t put it in 40pt bold.
The Lagom License
Not too much, not too little — just the right amount of freedom.
Not too much. Not too little. Just right.
Definition
Lagom is…
- the amount of milk in your coffee that does not need to be discussed.
- the volume of a conversation on a commuter train, which is none.
- a salary that is fine.
- a summer house that is red.
- a political opinion held quietly.
- an applause that ends at the same time for everyone.
- the second cinnamon bun, but never the third.
- the Goldilocks zone, but with better furniture and meatballs.
It cannot be measured, only felt. To ask how much is lagom?
is itself slightly un‑lagom.
The deal
Two rules.
Everything else is advice.
Just the two. More would be excessive.
Include the license.
This file, or a clear reference to it, in copies of the software. It’s just polite.
Use it
For any purpose, commercial or otherwise. The Author trusts you to be reasonable. Be unreasonable if you must.
Share it
Copy, publish, sublicense, sell — original or modified. Don’t make a big deal of it in either direction. Just put it there.
Change it
As much as you like. Rewrite it entirely and call it a fork. That’s between you and your conscience. Your conscience knows what lagom means.
Not required
Sharing your modifications (but hoarding is not lagom). Feeling guilty about anything (guilt is never lagom).
Things that are not required but would be nice
0 of 6. No pressure.
The fine print, which is lovely
Roam freely through the codebase, as through any Swedish forest.
Pick berries (snippets) and mushrooms (helper functions). No warranty that the mushrooms aren’t poisonous. Leave no trace. Don’t camp in one file for more than one night. Close the gate behind you.
Nu betjänas
042
Ditt nummer000Estimated wait: lagom.
Issues are handled in order of their queue ticket number.
The only truly unforgivable act. The Author will not say anything about it. The Author will think about it, at length, for years.
You shall not think you are better than this Software.
The Software does not think it is better than you.
Nobody here thinks they are anything special.
This card is exactly as big as it needs to be. That is the point.
Ships flat-packed. The instructions are wordless and feature a small cartoon person who seems calmer than you.
No support in July. All of July.
Issues filed in July will be read in August, by an Author with a tan and no memory of having written this code.
Breaking changes on Saturdays, in moderation.
A small bag. Not the big bag.
If this code deletes your database, burns your toast, causes an international incident, or collides with a moose, that is between you and your backup strategy.
The Author has no control over moose. Nobody does.
Certain legacy files are like surströmming.
- Open outdoors
- Downwind
- With a friend
- Never on a plane
First: coffee, a cinnamon bun, a lagom resolution. Failing that, escalate in the traditional manner.
To whoever keeps leaving lint in the filter. Some of us have to live here too.
/A neighbour
No names. No eye contact. Ever. If that fails, Stockholm District Court. Litigation is never lagom, but it is available.
Paused, not revoked.
Perpetual and irrevocable, because termination is too dramatic. Strip the attribution and your rights pause, like a coffee break you did not choose. Restore it and all is forgiven. Grudges are not lagom.
The Lagom Clause
Using this software too much? Step away. Have a fika.
Return when balance has been restored. Using it too little? Use it a little more. Not too much.
Use it (some assembly required)
-
1
Take the file.
Drop it in the root of your project as
LICENSE.curl -o LICENSE https://raw.githubusercontent.com/klppl/lagom-license/main/LICENSE -
2
Put your name on it.
Replace the copyright line at the bottom with your own. Or type it below and we’ll do it for you.
-
3
Don’t overthink it.
That’s it. If you have one leftover screw, that is normal. It goes nowhere.
Loading the license. Calmly.