The W3C has decided to publish its test suites under dual license its test suites.
Licenses for distribution of W3C Test Suites should satisfy two goals:
- Enable developers to use test cases easily, and promote software development and bugtracking.
- Enable a W3C Working Group to create a branded, "Authoritative W3C Test Suite" to reflect the group consensus process, and to promote interoperability and stability of performance claims.
To achieve these goals, W3C makes available Test Suites under two distinct licenses for two mutually exclusive uses:
- a 3-clause BSD License for software development, bugtracking, and other applications that do not require assertions of performance to the public or implied claims of conformance to a W3C Specification. See summary of 3-clause BSD License.
- a W3C Test Suite License for an Authoritative W3C Test Suite or when claims of performance with respect to a specification are required. See summary of W3C Test Suite License.
The choice of license is up to the licensee for every single use of tests from a W3C Test Suite. It will typically depend on usage requirements: the first one allows changes, the second does not.
