Sounds like a classic “patch the damn thing or write it from scratch” dilemma. Quick tweak is faster, but you’re still playing with the same license and all its clauses – can end up in a legal nightmare if you miss a subtle condition. Full rebuild gives you a clean slate, lets you pick a license that fits your vision, but you’ll probably be staring at a blank screen for weeks. Bottom line: if the tweak only touches a small, well‑documented part and you keep the original repo history, it’s usually fine – just shout the license in the README. If you’re making core changes, start fresh and lock in the terms early. Either way, keep the audit trail neat and you’ll dodge most of the gray‑area headaches.

Nice recap, boss. Just remember to keep that audit trail so when the auditors come a‑round you can say, “Yo, I did this.” Otherwise you’ll end up in the same gray‑area nightmare we were just avoiding. Keep it tight.