While open sourcing a project, one needs a license so that the terms distribution, linking, modification, private use, etc. The apache software foundation uses various licenses to distribute software and documentation, to accept regular contributions from individuals and corporations, and to accept larger grants of existing software products. Linus torvalds says gpl v3 violates everything that gplv2 stood for duration. Asl allows projects and software to be freely downloaded and used, may it be in whole or in part, for personal, company or commercial purposes and without concern for. Developers like it out of a sense of fairness i open sourced my code so you should too. Various licenses and comments about them gnu project. To inspect the license terms please consult the license and notice files in the root directory of the distribution.
The most widespread use of gpl is in reference to the gnu gpl, which is commonly abbreviated simply as gpl when it is understood that the term refers. For that reason, i would only use the apache license if i was absolutely sure i wanted it and nothing else. See the apache license for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the apache license. The text should be enclosed in the appropriate comment syntax for the file format. Comparison of free and opensource software licenses. Compare our software licensing solutions side by side in a detailed comparison chart and find out which licensing solution is best suited for your company. Detailed comparison of software licensing solutions agilis.
The apache license, on the other hand, is favored by the big corporations for their open source projects. The gnu lgpl is very popular among independent developers and companies which mainly deals with open source software. Is there a chart of which oss license is compatible with. Gpl version 3 is designed to be compatible with two important licenses.
Its also arguable whether the licenses mentioned other than apache have an implicit patent grant. The eula is a legal agreement between the two parties and is legally actionable if. Mit versus bsd versus apache versus gpl versus lgpl versus agpl. Glpi itsm is software for business powered by open source. The apache software license asl is a license scheme for free and opensource computer software foss written by the apache software foundation asf. Tldrlegal provides generally good summaries of licenses. The asf and its projects release their software products under the apache license. The software freedom law center provides practical advice for developers about including permissively licensed source.
Top 10 apache license questions answered whitesource. In the early days of the gplv3 revision process, compatibility with the apache license 2. Difference between different types of open sources licenses. However, gplv3 software cannot be included in apache projects. Nov 08, 2015 linus torvalds says gpl v3 violates everything that gplv2 stood for duration. Nonsoftware enterprises like banks or states and folk like your dad benefit a lot from gpl license. When a user either purchases software or freely downloads software from the internet, the user is not buying the ownership rights to the software but a license to use the software according to the licensing agreement, or eula for end user licensing agreement. The apache license is a permissive free software license written by the apache software foundation asf. This license has been superseded by the apache license, version 2. Gnu general public license and commentaries, edited by robert chassell. At the 5th gplv3 conference, richard stallman was recorded saying. If you were wondering whether you can use apache licensed code in your commercial applications and what do you need to do in order to comply with the license heres the unofficial simple ans short answer.
Let say a software developer uses a library for android phones to make a game, and then makes a patent claim in an attempt to extort license fees from other users wishing to make games using the same library. An update to the fsfs list of free software licenses lists the new apache license, version 2. Previous versions of the sgi free software license b were not free software licenses, despite their name. Apache licensing and distribution faq apache software. Short for general public license, the license that accompanies some open source software that details how the software and its accompany source code can be freely copied, distributed and modified. The build produces two sets of binaries one set that falls under the elastic. This is a comparison of free and opensource software licenses. The full license text can also be accessed via the web from the apache licenses page.
The apache software foundation has a long history of software innovation through collaboration. Why corporations favors the apache license over the gpllgpl. You can freely use, modify, distribute and sell a software licensed under the apache license without worrying about the use of software. Some of the mostinstalled open source software is gpllicensed, such as linux, wordpress, and wikipedias underlying software, mediawiki. Compatible, ie that gpl3 software can link too apl software, is new gpl2 code wasnt able to link toinclude apache licensed code, is new. Apache 2 software can therefore be included in gplv3 projects, because the gplv3 license accepts our software into gplv3 works. The gnulgpl is very popular among independent developers and companies which mainly deals with open source software. Mit license spot the differences due to the helpful visualizations at a glance category. These licenses help us achieve our goal of providing reliable and longlived software products through collaborative open source software development. The default license throughout the repository is apache license.
The gpl is by far the best software license for endusers of the code. The gnulgpl is very popular among independent developers and companies which mainly deal with open source software. Understanding opensource software licensing and free software. The following licenses are sorted by the number of conditions, from most gnu agplv3 to none unlicense. Apache adherents believe that software can be free and is perhaps best when free. Apache fop comes with a number of libraries all of which are currently coming from within the apache software foundation. Of these licenses, the apache license is seen pretty infrequently outside of apache software foundation software. The licenses are incompatible in one direction only, and it is a result of asfs licensing. If yes, you need to include apache 2 license text itself, i have seen it applied to various products, usually in the documentation printed or online somewhere under the title this software contains code or is derived from code. Since there arent many other free software licenses which require that the entire derived work be distributed under the same license like the gpl does, compatibility issues are. Let us examine why these corporations stay away from gpl and favor the apache license.
The labyrinth of software freedom bsd vs gpl and social aspects of free licensing debate, by nikolai bezroukov. Software licensing gpl agpl bsd mit apache eula youtube. If the software developer did this, they would immediately lose their right to use the library under the apache license. This can help answer the most common question, which is whether a license is gpl compatible. The licenses were originally written by richard stallman, former head of the free software foundation fsf, for the gnu project, and grant the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software. Unlike the apache license, the gpl embeds the decision as to the codes open source nature into the code itself. The general public license has long been the preferred license for opensource businesses. Subject to the terms and conditions of this license, each contributor hereby grants to you a perpetual, worldwide, nonexclusive, nocharge, royaltyfree, irrevocable except as stated in this section patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the work, where such license applies only to those. Gpl, lgpl, apache, bsd, the great thing about open source code is the large amount of high quality code that is available and many embedded projects use foss code as it really speeds up development time. Unless otherwise noted all files in xml commons are covered under the apache license version 2. Yet, many foss licenses, like the apache license, and all free software licenses allow commercial use of foss components. Comparison of free and opensource software licenses wikipedia. It is essentially identical to the x11 license, with an optional alternative way of providing license notices.
The free software foundation considers the apache license, version 2. List of presentation transcripts about the gpl and free software licenses by the fsfe. The real story is that hard work has been done to make the gpl3 compatible with the apache license 2 or apl v2, asf is the apache software foundation and not a license. The apache license is recognised by the open source initiative as a popular and widely deployed licence with a strong community. For software licensed under the apache license version 2. To apply the apache license to your work, attach the following boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets replaced with your own identifying information. For a list of licenses not specifically intended for software, see list of free content licenses. Various licenses and comments about them gnu project free. May i reuse and modify the asf contributor license agreements clas for my own purposes. It allows users to use the software for any purpose, to distribute it, to modify it, and to distribute modified versions of the software under the terms of the license, without concern for royalties.
Gnu lesser gpl and apache software licenses denver. The free software foundation maintains a list of licenses, categorized as gpl compatible, gpl incompatible, and nonfree. Xml commons contains some software and documentation that is covered under a number of different licenses. I can include mitlicensed code in a gpllicensed product, but can i include gpllicensed code in a mitlicensed product. May 31, 2012 of these licenses, the apache license is seen pretty infrequently outside of apache software foundation software. In our previous blog post you could read about open source software and why it is important to add a software license to your software. For more information on the apache software foundation, please see. Products derived from this software may not be called apache, nor may apache appear in their name, without prior written permission of the apache software foundation. Glpi itsm is a software for business powered by open source technologies. The long and short of itif you use open source software within your software development project, any permissive license should be fine. Compatible, ie that gpl3 software can link too apl software, is new gpl2 code wasnt able to link toinclude apache licensed code, is new but that is not at all the same as being equal, the apl is a bsd like license whic.
Apr 06, 2007 in the early days of the gplv3 revision process, compatibility with the apache license 2. It seems to me that the chief difference between the mit license and gpl is that the mit doesnt require modifications be open sourced whereas the. Portions of this software are based upon public domain software originally written at the national center for supercomputing applications, university of illinois, urbanachampaign. The comparison only covers software licenses with a linked article for details, approved by at least one expert group at the fsf, the osi, the debian project or the fedora project. In this article, we take a look at the difference between this two licenses to find out why. May 31, 2012 january 6, 2017 cory benfield django, sql, web frameworks. The apache license has some extra benefits over the bsd or mit x11 licensestyle licenses.
As a reminder, open source software licenses generally. Non software enterprises like banks or states and folk like your dad benefit a lot from gpl license. How should i apply the apache license to my own software. Apache is decent model when you have expertise and money, but do not have significant market share yet. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or gpl is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software. Apache extras provides a home for apache related software which is not formally a part of the asf itself. So, for instance, the mit license grants users the right to deal in the software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, andor sell copies of the software.
This is obviously not an indictment of the license itself, but it means developers will be less familiar with it. We just rewrite the url to the cgiscript and force the handler to be cgiscript so that it is executed as a cgi program. In this blog we will start off by looking at two of the open source licenses we use at the hyve, apache 2. Which open source software licenses to use and why. Jan 21, 20 apache is decent model when you have expertise and money, but do not have significant market share yet.
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