The ’license’ command is used to create license files for open-source projects. It allows you to generate licenses with custom author names and release years, and also provides a list of available licenses. This article will walk you through four use cases of the ’license’ command, with examples for each.

Use case 1: Print a license to stdout (using default author name and year)

Code:

license license_name

Motivation:

Typically, when you create an open-source project, you need to include a license file to specify the terms under which others can use your code. Use this command to quickly generate a license file and print it to the console.

Explanation:

• ’license’: The command itself.
• ’license_name’: The name of the license you want to generate.

Example Output:

The license file corresponding to the given license name will be printed to the console.

Use case 2: Generate a license and save it to a file

Code:

license -o path/to/file license_name

Motivation:

In addition to displaying the generated license on the console, you may want to save it to a file for future reference or inclusion in your project.

Explanation:

• ‘-o path/to/file’: Specifies the output file path where the license will be saved.
• ’license_name’: The name of the license you want to generate.

Example Output:

The license file corresponding to the given license name will be saved at the specified file path.

Use case 3: List all available licenses

Code:

license ls

Motivation:

When you are not sure about the available license options, you can use this command to get a list of all the licenses supported by the ’license’ command.

Explanation:

• ’license ls’: The ’ls’ subcommand lists all available licenses.

Example Output:

A list of all the available licenses will be displayed on the console.

Use case 4: Generate a license with custom author name and year

Code:

license --name author --year release_year license_name

Motivation:

Sometimes, you may want to specify a different author name and release year in the license file. This use case allows you to generate a license file with customized details.

Explanation:

• ‘–name author’: Specifies the custom author name to be used in the license file.
• ‘–year release_year’: Specifies the custom release year to be used in the license file.
• ’license_name’: The name of the license you want to generate.

Example Output:

The license file corresponding to the given license name will be printed to the console, with the custom author name and release year included.

Conclusion:

The ’license’ command is a useful tool for open-source projects. It provides a convenient way to generate license files for your code, allowing you to customize author names, release years, and save the licenses to files. Additionally, it offers a list of available licenses for the times when you are unsure about the license you want to use.