{"id":56982,"key":"Open_software_licenses","title":"Open software licenses","latest":{"id":1211364,"timestamp":"2025-11-28T13:38:58Z"},"content_model":"wikitext","license":{"url":"https://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:Copyrights","title":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"source":"Adapted from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_and_open-source_software_licenses Wikipedia 9-6-2014]\nThis is a '''comparison of published free software licenses'''.\n\n== General comparison ==\n\nThe following table compares various features of each license and is a general guide to the terms and conditions of each license.\n\nNote that a \"yes\" in either of the last two columns (''Link with code using a different license'' and ''Release changes under a different license'') is not an absolute answer, there may still be restrictions in the license related to this action. You should review the specific license terms<ref name=\"ref_OSI\" /> and refer to the reference table<ref name=\"ref_Rusin\">{{Cite web|author=Rusin, Zack|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20141116132106/http://web.archive.org:80/web/20110520072142/http://developer.kde.org/documentation/licensing/licenses_summary.html|title=Open Source Licenses Comparison|accessdate=2006-10-16}}</ref> for more details regarding a \"yes\" in these columns. Also note that \"no\" in ''Link with code using a different license''-column is not absolute, e.g. for GPL, see: GPL compatibility.\n\n{| class=\"wikitable sortable\"\n! License\n! Author\n! Latest version\n! Publication date\n! Link with code using a different license\n! Release changes under a different license\n|-\n| Academic Free License\n| Lawrence E. Rosen\n| 3\n| 2002\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Affero GPL\n| Free Software Foundation\n| 3\n| 2007\n| Only AGPLv3 + GPLv3\n| No\n|-\n| Apache License\n| Apache Software Foundation\n| 2.0\n| 2004\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Apple Public Source License\n| Apple Computer\n| 2.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2003</span>August 6, 2003\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| Artistic License\n| Larry Wall\n| 2.0\n| 2000\n| Yes\n| With restrictions\n|-\n| Berkeley Database License\n| Oracle Corporation\n| ?\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2008</span>February 7, 2008\n| No\n| No\n|-\n| BSD license\n| Regents of the University of California\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Boost Software License\n| ?\n| 1.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2003</span>August 17, 2003\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| CeCILL\n| CEA / CNRS / INRIA\n| 2.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2005</span>May 21, 2005\n| No\n| No\n|-\n| Common Development and Distribution License\n| Sun Microsystems\n| 1.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2004-12</span>December 1, 2004\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Code Project Open License\n| The Code Project\n| 1.0\n| 2007\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| Common Public License\n| IBM\n| 1.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2001</span>May 2001\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| Cryptix General License\n| Cryptix Foundation\n| ?\n| 1995\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Eclipse Public License\n| Eclipse Foundation\n| 1.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2004-02</span>February 2004\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| Educational Community License\n| ?\n| 1.0\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Eiffel Forum License\n| NICE\n| 2\n| 2002\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| EUPL\n| European Commission\n| 1.1\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2009</span>January 2009\n| Yes\n| With an explicit compatibility list\n|-\n| Fair Licence\n| James W. Pye\n| N/A\n| 2004\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| GNU General Public License\n| Free Software Foundation\n| 3.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2007</span>June 2007\n| No\n| No\n|-\n| GNU Lesser General Public License\n| Free Software Foundation\n| 3.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2007</span>June 2007\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software License Agreement\n| Hacktivismo/Cult of the Dead Cow\n| ?\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2002</span>November 26, 2002\n| ?\n| ?\n|-\n| IBM Public License\n| IBM\n| 1.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">1999</span>August 1999\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Intel Open Source License\n| Intel Corporation\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| ISC license\n| Internet Systems Consortium\n| ?\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2003</span>June 2003\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| LaTeX Project Public License\n| LaTeX project\n| 1.3c\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| MIT license / X11 license\n| [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]\n| N/A<ref group=\"note\">Was never revised.</ref>\n| 1988\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Mozilla Public License\n| Mozilla Foundation\n| 2.0\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2012</span>January 3, 2012\n| Yes\n| Limited\n|-\n| Netscape Public License\n| Netscape\n| 1.1\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Limited\n|-\n| OPaC Free Public License\n| OPaC bright ideas\n| ?\n| 1998\n| No\n| No\n|-\n| Open Software License\n| Lawrence Rosen\n| 3.0\n| 2005\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| OpenSSL license\n| OpenSSL Project\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| ?\n|-\n| PHP License\n| PHP Group\n| 3.01\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Public Domain\n| N/A\n| N/A\n| N/A\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Python Software Foundation License\n| Python Software Foundation\n| 2\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Q Public License\n| Trolltech\n| ?\n| ?\n| No\n| No\n|-\n| Sun Industry Standards Source License\n| Sun Microsystems\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| Sun Public License\n| Sun Microsystems\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| Sybase Open Watcom Public License\n| ?\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| W3C Software Notice and License\n| ?\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| XCore Open Source License\n| XMOS\n| ?\n| <span style=\"display:none\">2011</span>February 2011\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| XFree86 1.1 License\n| ?\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| zlib/libpng license\n| ?\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Zope Public License\n| Zope Foundation\n| 2.1\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|}\n\n<references group=\"note\" />\n\n== Approvals ==\n\nThis table lists for each license what organizations from the free software community have approved it - be it as a \"free software\" or as an \"open source\" license - and how those organizations categorize it. Organizations usually approve specific versions of software licenses. FSF approval means that the Free Software Foundation (FSF) considers the license [[free software]] as they don't approve of proprietary software, however they also recommend that licenses be at least \"Compatible with GPL\" and preferably [[copyleft]] (usually).\n\n{| class=\"wikitable sortable\" width=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: center\"\n! License and specific version\n! FSF \"approval\"<ref name=\"ref_FSF\">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html|title=Various Licenses and Comments about Them|author=Free Software Foundation|work=Licenses|publisher=Free Software Foundation}}</ref>\n! Compatible with GPL<ref name=\"ref_HasToBeCompatibleWithGPLv3&GPLv2\">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#Introduction|title=To be GPL-Compatible has to be compatible with Licenses GNU GPLv3 and GNU GPLv2Free Software Foundation|author=Free Software Foundation|work=Software Licenses|publisher=Free Software Foundation}}</ref><ref name=\"ref_GPL-compatible_List\">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#GPLCompatibleLicenses|title=GPL-Compatible Free Software LicensesFree Software Foundation|author=Free Software Foundation|work=Software Licenses|publisher=Free Software Foundation}}</ref><ref name=\"ref_GPL-Incompatible_List\">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#GPLIncompatibleLicenses|title=GPL-Incompatible Free Software LicensesFree Software Foundation|author=Free Software Foundation|work=Software Licenses|publisher=Free Software Foundation}}</ref><ref name=\"ref_GPL-compatible\">{{Cite web|url=http://gplv3.fsf.org/wiki/index.php/FAQ_Update#What_does_it_mean_to_say_a_license_is_.22compatible_with_the_GPL.22.3F|title=GPL-compatible Definition by FSFFree Software Foundation|author=Free Software Foundation|work=GPL-compatible Definition|publisher=Free Software Foundation}}</ref><ref name=\"ref_GPL-compatible_previous_version_definition\">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatDoesCompatMean|title=GPL-compatible Definition previous version by FSF Free Software Foundation|author=Free Software Foundation|work=GPL-compatible Definition|publisher=Free Software Foundation}}</ref>\n! OSI approval<ref name=\"ref_OSI\">{{Cite web|url=http://www.opensource.org/licenses/|title=The Approved Licenses|author=Open Source Initiative|work=License Information|publisher=Open Source Initiative}}</ref>\n! Copyfree Initiative approval<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://copyfree.org/licenses|title=Copyfree Licenses|author=Copyfree Initiative|publisher=Copyfree Initiative}}</ref><ref name=\"copyfree-rejected\">{{Cite web|title=Rejected Licenses|url=http://copyfree.org/rejected/|publisher=CopyFree Initiative|accessdate=16 June 2013}}</ref>\n! Debian approval<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.debian.org/legal/licenses/|title=DebianLicense information|author=Debian|work=Licenses|publisher=Debian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses|title=The DFSG and Software Licenses|publisher=Debian wiki}}</ref>\n! Fedora Project approval<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Licensing|title=LicensingFedoraProject|author=Fedora|work=Licenses|publisher=Fedora Project}}</ref>\n|-\n| Academic Free License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| Affero GPL version 3\n| Yes\n| Yes<ref name=\"GPLnotice\" group=\"note\" >Compatible with version 3 of the GPL but not version 2.</ref>\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Apache License version 1.1 and 1.0\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Apache License version 2\n| Yes\n| Yes<ref name=\"GPLnotice\" group=\"note\" />\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Apple Public Source License version 1.x\n| No<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#apsl1|title=Apple Public Source License (APSL), version 1.x|deadurl=no|accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref>\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| No\n| No\n|-\n| Apple Public Source License version 2.0\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| No\n| Yes\n|-\n| Artistic License 1.0\n| No<ref group=\"note\">The original version of the Artistic License is defined as non-free because it is overly vague, not because of the substance of the license. The FSF encourages projects to use the Clarified Artistic License instead. [https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#ArtisticLicense]</ref>\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n|-\n| Artistic License 2.0\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Berkeley Database License\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Original BSD license\n| Yes\n| No\n| No<ref name=\"bsdlic\">{{Cite web|url=http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause|title=3-clause BSD License at OSI}}</ref>\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Modified BSD license\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Boost Software License\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| CeCILL\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Common Development and Distribution License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Common Public License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Creative Commons licenses (Tags: by & sa)\n| Yes\n| No\n| ?\n| No\n| ≥ v3.0 only<ref name=\"deb-cc\">{{Cite web|url=http://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses|title=DFSGLicenses}}</ref>\n| Yes\n|-\n| Creative Commons licenses (Tags: nc & nd)\n| No\n| No\n| No\n| No\n| No<ref name=\"deb-cc\" />\n| by-nd only\n|-\n| Cryptix General License\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License (WTFPL)\n| Yes<ref group=\"note\">Listed as WTFPL</ref>\n| Yes\n| No<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.opensource.org/minutes20090304|title=OSI Board Meeting Minutes, Wednesday, March 4, 2009}}</ref>\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Eclipse Public License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Educational Community License\n| Yes\n| Yes<ref name=\"GPLnotice\" group=\"note\" />\n| Yes\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| Eiffel Forum License version 2\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Fair License\n| ?\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| GNU General Public License\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| GNU Lesser General Public License\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software License Agreement\n| No\n| No\n| No\n| ?\n| No\n| No\n|-\n| IBM Public License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No<ref name=\"copyfree-rejected\" />\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Intel Open Source License\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| ?\n| ?\n| No\n|-\n| ISC license\n| Yes<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/quick-guide-gplv3.html#new-compatible-licenses|title=A Quick Guide to GPLv3|author=Free Software Foundation|work=Licenses|publisher=Free Software Foundation}}</ref>\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| LaTeX Project Public License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No<ref name=\"copyfree-rejected\" />\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Microsoft Public License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| Microsoft Reciprocal License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| MIT license\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Mozilla Public License version 1.1\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Mozilla Public License version 2.0\n| Yes\n| Yes, unless marked \"Incompatible with Secondary Licenses\".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/FAQ.html|title=MPL 2.0 FAQ|author=Mozilla Foundation|work=Licenses|publisher=Mozilla Foundation}}</ref>\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Netscape Public License\n| Yes\n| No\n| No\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| Open Software License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| ?\n| No\n| Yes\n|-\n| OpenSSL license\n| Yes\n| No\n| No\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| PHP License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| v3.0/3.01 only, others are unknown\n|-\n| POV-Ray-License\n| No\n| No\n| No\n| ?\n| No\n| ?\n|-\n| Python Software Foundation License 2.0.1; 2.1.1 and newer\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Q Public License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| ?\n| No\n| Yes\n|-\n| Reciprocal Public License 1.5\n| No\n| No\n| Yes\n| ?\n| ?\n| No\n|-\n| Sun Industry Standards Source License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| Sun Public License\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| ?\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| Sybase Open Watcom Public License\n| No\n| No\n| Yes\n| ?\n| No\n| No\n|-\n| W3C Software Notice and License\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| XFree86 1.1 License\n| Yes\n| Yes<ref name=\"GPLnotice\" group=\"note\" />\n| No\n| ?\n| ?\n| ?\n|-\n| zlib/libpng license\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Zope Public License version 1.0\n| Yes\n| No\n| ?\n| No\n| ?\n| Yes\n|-\n| Zope Public License version 2.0\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| ?\n| Yes\n|}\n\n<references group=\"note\" />\n\n== Article comparison<ref>{{Cite web|last=Github, Inc.|title=Licenses - ChooseALicense.com|accessdate=2014-05-31|url=http://choosealicense.com/licenses/}}</ref> ==\n\n{| class=\"wikitable sortable\" width=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: center\"\n! License\n! Version\n! Include license\n! Include source\n! Linking\n! State changes\n! Commercial use\n! Distribution\n! Modification\n! Patent grant\n! Private use\n! Sublicensing\n! No liability\n! No trademark\n|-\n| Apache License\n| 2.0\n| Yes\n|\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| BSD 3-Clause License\n|\n| Yes\n|\n|\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| BSD 2-Clause License\n|\n| Yes\n|\n|\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|-\n| GNU General Public License\n| 2.0\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| No\n| Yes\n|\n|-\n| GNU General Public License\n| 3.0\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|-\n| GNU Lesser General Public License\n| 2.1\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|-\n| GNU Lesser General Public License\n| 3.0\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|-\n| MIT License\n|\n| Yes\n|\n|\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|-\n| Mozilla Public License\n| 2.0\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|-\n| Eclipse Public License\n| 1.0\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|-\n| Affero General Public License\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n| Yes\n| Yes\n| Yes\n|\n|-\n| Generic copyright<ref group=\"note\">For comparison purposes: <code>Copyright [year] [fullname]</code></ref>\n|\n| Yes\n|\n|\n|\n| Yes\n| No\n| No\n|\n| Yes\n| No\n|\n|\n|}\n\n<references group=\"note\" />\n\n== References ==\n\n<references />\n\n{{Page data\n| license = CC-BY-SA-3.0\n}}\n\n[[Category:Free licenses]]\n[[Category:Licenses]]"}