1. What is the idea of COSLi?
When starting Fieldtracks I noticed that my University - the University of Bonn - outlines activity related to military research (https://net.cs.uni-bonn.de/nc/news/singleview/106/). While asking fellow students for help appears to be a good idea, supporting NATO maneuvers does not comply with my conscience. COSLi is written to be a formal and binding clarification addressing people I work with. While respecting each other's position, I don't think, that this point will be addressed in a trial.2. What is the legal basis of COSLi?
The legal basis of COSLi is the German copyright ("Urheberrecht"), which empowers authors to restrict the usage of their works.3. Are there any court rulings or legal surveys?
No - just informal discussions. It is understood, that COSLi is explicit in expressing the author's will.4. How is COSLi going to be enforced? Military operations are confidential.
COSLi is written with organizations such as the University of Bonn in mind. Research publications referencing COSLi may provide evidence.Nevertheless, I do not expect this to happen (cf. 1. What is the idea of COSLi?).
5. Why is COSLi based on the OpenSSL license?
Unlike the GPL (or others) the OpenSSL license is rather short and focuses on propagating a disclaimer.Thus, restricting usage by introducing an additional non-military disclaimer is straight-forward and does not contradict to other parts of the license.
6. Is COSLi GPL-compatible?
No - refer to the OpenSSL license for discussions and details.7. What about re-licensing - why is it made explicit in COSLi?
Fieldtracks focusses on tactical trainings — military usage is close-by and does not comply with my conscience.However, we're fine with helping other OpenSource projects having a different focus.