The original bsd license is also one of the first free software licenses, dating to 1988. It consists of the gpl, plus an exception allowing linking to software not under the gpl. Creative commons licenses are several licenses released on december 16, 2002 by creative commons, a u. The gpl the gnu general public license the most popular copyleft licence, sometimes gets a hostile press, often for reasons that. With the bsd licenses, the programmers maintain more of the freedom with what they are allowed to do with derivative code. It basically allows developers to modify or recalibrate source code. This document makes a case for using a bsd style license for software and data. There are plenty of open source licenses available to choose from. Its clearly intended to be a shot over the bow of both proprietary and bsd style licensing.
This is a comparison of free and opensource software licenses. The gnu general public licence, or gpl as its often called, is the most popular free software licence and its used by many different projects, including the linux kernel, the gnu tools and literally hundreds of others. Bsd, unlike other licenses, does not require that source code be distributed at all. Another difference between the bsd licenses and the mit license is how they deal with the meaning of software. While earlier versions of the apache license were identical to the bsd licenses, apache license 2. Software licensing gpl agpl bsd mit apache eula youtube. 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. Bsd license problem gnu project free software foundation.
Tldrlegal software licenses explained in plain english. Whenever changes are made under gpl license, source codes are required and changes must also be licensed under gpl, while lgpl may allow nongpl programs to link to libraries but must still provide source codes. Microsoft office is not free, you have to pay microsoft money. Most surveys indicate that the vast majority of open source projects use the mit license, the apache license, and the gpl or their variants. Recently, there was some exciting news for developers around the world. Something isnt eiher free or permissively free it is either restricted or free. Gpl is labeled free software while bsd is labeled permissive free which is orwell newspeak obfuscation. Bsd is both a license and a class of license generally referred to as bsdlike. Difference between different types of open sources licenses.
There was some discussion about this data back when it was released in 2011. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or gpl is a widelyused free software license that guarantees end users the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software. The fsf free software foundation works to ensure that gpl protects the freedom of all users to modify and distribute. The following licenses are sorted by the number of conditions, from most gnu agplv3 to. Used originally by the bsd operating system, it covers a fair amount of software. Apache 2 software can therefore be included in gplv3 projects, because the gplv3 license accepts our software into gplv3 works. The mitexpat license doesnt protect against opensource code being taken without payment and used in proprietary software. Boy, there are so many weasel words in that article it reads like gpl fud to me. Unfortunately, i am linking to a library which is based on gpl. Creative commons license vs gpl difference and comparison. For those who must work with staticallylinked implementations of multiple software standards, the gpl is often a poor license, because it precludes using proprietary implementations of the standards. In general, the gpl states that you can use nongpl licensed code in your gpllicensed product provided that the nongpl license does not impose more restrictions than the gpl.
Facebook changed the license of multiple libraries they develop. The 3clause modified bsd license includes a nonendorsement clause, which says users dont have the right to market software using bsdlicensed components in such a way that their product appears to be endorsed by the original developers. By contrast, the gnu general public license is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a programto make sure it remains free software for all its users. And one cannot distribute bsd code under a gpl license, that would be adding restrictions bsd licenses do not allow. Unlike the apache license, the gpl embeds the decision as to the codes open source nature into the code itself. What seems to be missing is a bsd like license that gives away software but protects it from. Linux vs bsd top 9 differences to learn with infographics. See how to choose a license for your own work for general recommendations about choosing a license for your work the two major categories of free software license are copyleft and noncopyleft. Theres an interesting post about the gpl license and bsd license, and the writers suggests that the public domain license is the license to be chosen for real freedom, as the other two lay restrictions on. I wrote software which i would like to release under the bsd license. May 31, 2012 the licenses seen most often are the following. Software licenses in plain english lookup popular software licenses summarized ataglance.
Is bsd a better open source licensing model than the gpl. He says, no one open source license is ideal in every circumstance. This license has the same disadvantages as the lgpl. This is a free software license, and it is compatible with gplv3. In 1989, version 1 of the gnu general public license gpl was published.
Berkeley software distribution bsd is both license and a class of license. This article provides an overview of software and licensing, and suggests usage examples for two wellknown open source licenses. Oct 16, 2019 notably, the net bsd project which involves a berkeleydesigned unixlike operating system utilizes the 2clause bsd license. Gpl debate i wrote yesterday about eben moglens upcoming osbc keynote. Bsd takes more time to support different types of applications. Gpl vs lgpl gpl and lgpl are software licenses that protect the freedom of the users to share andor change open source software. Does the epl allow me to take the source code for a program licensed under it and include all or part of it in another program licensed under the gnu general public license gpl, berkeley software distribution bsd license or other open source license.
Apache 2 software can therefore be included in gplv3 projects, because the gplv3. It can also be read as a bsd versus gpl open source license introduction and summary. Most software with licenses have restricted freedom when it comes to modifications and distribution, but gpl and lgpl take away those restrictions thus giving their users more leeway. What are the essential differences between the bsd and mit. Jun 21, 2016 most surveys indicate that the vast majority of open source projects use the mit license, the apache license, and the gpl or their variants. Why you should use a bsd style license for your open source. The gpl license is copyleft, therefore you must disclose your source code and. And linux was developed by a finnish student linus torvalds. Jul 18, 2008 every so many weeks you find that gpl license advocates attack the bsd license. The gpl thus minimizes the number of programs that can be built using a gpled standard. This is harmful to user freedom because it lets future development be taken out of the public domain and instead moved into nonfree programs. The gnu general public license is a free software license, created by the free software foundationfsf.
Linux vs bsd is free and opensource operating systems that are greatly inspired by the unix operating system. Read what they have to say, then add your own thoughts executives from novell and covalent debate both sides of the issue. Concern was expressed with conflicts between the license. Jan 21, 20 adherents of gplstyle licensing continue to insist that all software should be free and the license must manacle any attempts to extend it with proprietary software. Bsd style license components 2 hs sdemygna jsch netsnmp openssh rhino. The license was originally written by richard stallman, former head of the free software foundation fsf, for the gnu project, and grants the recipients of a computer.
Nov 01, 2017 from this family, the most common licenses are the 3clause bsd license and the 2clause license. If you have some code you are thinking of releasing under an open source license, and you want a quick overview of the broadstrokes differences between these licenses, you have come to the right place. Mit applies to the documentation associated with the software, bsd dont. With the gpl license, the software maintains more of the freedom than the programmers who work on it.
The dockerfile files can be licensed under an open source license themselves. Chemisor, a bsd advocate, is of the opinion that a linguistic misunderstanding may be the root of the disagreements over the difference licensing philosophies. We, the free software foundation, use the gnu general public license for most of our software. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or simply gpl is a widely used free software license. But linux is more popular and widely used as compared to bsd. This is a free software license, compatible with both gplv2 and gplv3. Every so many weeks you find that gpl license advocates attack the bsd license. As open source licensing models, both the berkeley software distribution license and the general public license have advantages and disadvantages. Popular open source alternatives to itunes for linux, windows, mac, bsd, xfce and more. The software freedom law center provides practical advice for developers about including permissively licensed source. Various licenses and comments about them gnu project free.
Bsd license is a part of a family of free software licenses that have much fewer restrictions in distribution as compared to other free software licenses. Various licenses and comments about them gnu project. Why would any software use a bsd license over a gpl license. The bsd license is a highly permissible license that allows users to modify and redistribute software licensed under the bsd license however they want. Difference between gpl and lgpl compare the difference. Can i release my software under gpl and later after rewriting the gpl library change license to bsd. They require all modifications, and any software based on the open source component, even in a small part, to be released under an open source license.
Why you should use a bsd style license for your open. Hp tippingpoint security management system open source. Gnu general public license version 3 open source initiative. Security management system open source licenses 27 free software foundations software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. What is open source software vs proprietary software closed source software gpl license. In other words, you can freely use 3clause bsd licensed code in your gpl project. Gnu general public license, version 2 spdx short identifier. What is foss licensesapache, bsd, gpl, lgpl explained.
Copyleft licenses such as the gnu gpl insist that modified versions of the program must be free software as well. 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. The gpl license is copyleft, therefore you must disclose your source code and make your modified version of your code open source as well. The original license was used for the berkeley software distribution bsd, a unixlike operating system after which it is named. Oct 10, 2011 the gnu gpl general public license covers over 50% of the free software projects including the linux kernel, busybox and many applications. If you want to give your software away for free, use bsd. Nov 08, 2015 linus torvalds says gpl v3 violates everything that gplv2 stood for duration. Free software that wanted to deal with mp3 files was put in illegal or quasilegal status. You should have received a copy of the gnu general public license along with this program. Bsd style licenses, also called permissive licenses, make much fewer demands on the user or modifier of the original open source code.
The mit license is gplcompatible, but unlike the traditionally. Can someone fork my gpl licensed project and relicense it. 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. Stallman devised an alternative to the commercial software license and called it the gpl, or gnu public license. With open source licenses explained here, it should help you choose the right open source license for your project. Right now i do not have time to rewrite that library. So, youre working on that cool new project for a while and youre ready now to make the critical move from closed source to open source. The following licenses are sorted by the number of conditions, from most gnu agplv3 to none unlicense. One of the main differences between a gnu general public license gnu gpl or simply gpl, the most common type of license for free software, and a bsd license is that gpl are copyleft, meaning any derivative code produced from the original free open source code must remain free. It is vital to realize that the scope of this license statement is only the dockerfile and not the container image. What is the difference between a bsd and a gpl license types. Gpl vs bsd, a matter of sustainability hacker news.
Marshall kirk mckusick describes the evolution of the berkeley software distribution bsd license in twenty years of berkeley unix. It is based on the modified bsd license, and adds a term expressly stating it does not grant you any patent licenses. You can find the legal text for the gpl here, but heres a quick summary of what it means. Why you should use a bsd style license for your open source project. What are the essential differences between the bsd and mit licences. The original bsd license is also one of the first freesoftware licenses, dating to 1988. Comparison of free and opensource software licenses wikipedia. The x11 license and the modified bsd license are more or less equivalent. This detailed guide gives you an effective open source licenses comparison. But in the end, the bsd offers more benefits to enterprise customers. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or simply gpl is a widely used free software license, origin. Version 2 of the gpl, released in 1991, went on to become the most widely used freesoftware license. The discussion on gpl vs bsd licensing will probably never end, unless one or both licenses cease to exist.
The original version has since been revised, and its descendants are referred to as modified bsd licenses. For example, some software can be compiled and distributed with a permissive license like bsd or mit, but if you omit some libraries and therefore. The free software foundation considers the apache license, version 2. In general, these licenses tend to fall into one of two categories. Likewise, the similar gcc general public license was applied to the gnu compiler collection, which was initially published in 1987. In contrast to lgpl, gpl requires that you provide the code for all changes made to the software. The gpl license is conducive to liberating software. The two licenses are very different from each other.
Open source licenses grant permission for anybody to use, modify, and share licensed software for any purpose, subject to conditions preserving the provenance and openness of the software. Why isnt the microsoft public license compatible with the. Among the two gpl is the basis of open source software for programmers. Because of this, we encourage you to be careful about using software under this license. The gpl protects the main articles of software freedom are. These attacks are about freedom of sharing the code, and to what degree this should be allowed. Though, sometimes a software product will claim to be dual licensed as mit and gpl or some permissive license and gpl, but in reality they are referring to two different versions of the software. Gpl is a copyleft license so it requires derivative works to be released under the same license and programs linked with a library released under the gpl must also be released under the gpl. He explains how businesses, because of proprietary concerns, avoid software created under opensource licenses that require all derivative work be published for the sake of engaging more. The bsd basically says heres the source code, do whatever you want with it, but if you have problems, its your problem. The difference between the gpl and the lgpl is that with the lgpl, the entire work doesnt have to have the same license. Gpl is mostly for programs while lgpl is limited to software libraries. In summary, the license was intended to allow liberal modification and redistribution terms for berkeley unix code. The gnu general public licence, or gpl as its often called, is the most popular free software licence and its used by many different projects.
One cannot distribute gpl code under a bsd license, that would be violating the viral aspects of the gpl. This is a lax, permissive free software license, compatible with the gnu gpl. See version 2 and version 3 of the gnu general public license for more details. Choosing a license the hitchhikers guide to python.
Both linux shares a lot of similarities than differences. The gpl general public license is the most popular copyleft license. How open source licenses work and how to add them to your. Use of gpl licenses increased, but as more corporations begin using open source they chose other licenses where possible which permit them to close the software. However, my macbook pro and iphone are sitting just a few feet away from me. Mit vs gpl license closed ask question asked 9 years. Of these licenses, the apache license is seen pretty infrequently outside of apache software foundation software. Bsd license is a very simple license that requires that all the code licensed under the bsd licensed.
What is foss licensesapache, bsd, gpl, lgpl explained techcode. Jan 21, 2009 the discussion on gpl vs bsd licensing will probably never end, unless one or both licenses cease to exist. The original bsd license was used for its namesake, the berkeley software distribution bsd, a unixlike operating system. Gpl is free software as well as mit is, both licenses do not restrict you to bring together the code where as include is always twoway. What is the difference between a bsd and a gpl license. The differences between the gpl, lgpl and the bsd fosswire.
I can include mitlicensed code in a gpl licensed product, but can i include gpl licensed code in a mitlicensed product. Under gpl you cant sub license, meaning, you cant cha. Bsd licenses may allow for derivative works to become paid software. Were it not for the gpl, i would not be typing this comment on this laptop running debian.
1482 708 1590 870 612 970 1396 1340 1386 410 340 317 1007 309 868 786 1209 1413 1266 863 663 889 1572 833 1569 1115 1192 699 863 1006 1346 22 756 878 730 1006 1380 401