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There's a project I'd like to work on and change. It's released under the two-clause BSD license. But the code is only distributed in the zip files you get along with precompiled executables.

I assume the answer is yes, but I want to be sure: can I just post the whole thing on GitHub and then start modifying it? Of course, that would be with full attribution. My main worry comes from the fact that, if it were okay to just put it on GitHub, why did the original developer not do that? He must have had his reasons, but I worry.

If I do modify it, I'd rather do it as a copyleft project. Can I (still crediting the original developer) release my modified version under a copyleft license, like the MPL, LGPL, or something of that kind? Even if it is allowed, is it bad manners to do something like that?

If I do that, it would also make it easier to add copyleft components to it if the need arises.

Again, I'm pretty sure that the answer to whether I can do these things is "yes", but I don't want to break any rules, so I'm asking confirmation before doing anything that might be a problem.

The original project is mostly in C, in case that matters.

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    GitHub is owned by Microsoft, they have their own agenda and when the service is "free" then you're not the customer — you're the product. GitHub has its uses but I don't fault those who avoid it. Commented Jul 12 at 21:09

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can I just post the whole thing on GitHub and then start modifying it?

Yes. The BSD license gives you the right to redistribute the code; it doesn't define or restrict the mechanism for distributing that code.

if it were okay to just put it on GitHub, why did the original developer not do that?

We can't answer that. You could try contacting them.

Can I (still crediting the original developer) release my modified version under a copyleft license, like the MPL, LGPL, or something of that kind?

No but yes.

The only right you have to distribute the code you have received is via the BSD license, you cannot decide to distribute it under a different license. However, as restrictions imposed by the BSD license are very easy to comply with, you can distribute a combined work which contains both copyleft code and BSD code - but you must still comply with the restrictions from the BSD license which are more than just "crediting the original developer".

is it bad manners to do something like that?

Maybe.

Most of the time, people releasing code under a permissive license are doing it because they want their code to be used in as many ways as possible, whether that be continued permissive code, copyleft code or proprietary code.

A small fraction of people releasing their code under a permissive license are doing it because they actively object to the copyleft / Free Software (capitals deliberate and significant) philosophy and would rather their code is not used in a copyleft project. Everyone would acknowledge that this request isn't legally enforceable.

Again, you could contact the original developer and ask.

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    I will contact the developer. But it's better to contact him as a somehow informed person. For example, I thought that BSD code could be re-licensed, unlike the GPL. Now, I know better and it avoids confusion. Commented Jul 12 at 20:09
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    BSD code can be relicensed, for certain values of relicensed. See eg this answer for further details. Commented Jul 14 at 12:54

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