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Comparison of free and open-source software licenses

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This is a comparison of published free software licences.

General comparison

The following table compares various features of each license and is a general guide to the terms and conditions of each license.[1]

License Author Latest version Publication date Link from code with a different license Release changes under a different license
Academic Free License Lawrence E. Rosen 3 2002 Yes Yes
Apache License Apache Software Foundation 2.0 2004 Yes Yes
Apple Public Source License Apple Computer 2.0 August 6, 2003 Yes No
Artistic License Larry Wall 2.0 2000 Yes With restrictions
Berkeley Database License Oracle Corporation ? February 7, 2008 No No
BSD license Regents of the University of California ? ? Yes Yes
Boost Software License ? 1.0 August 17, 2003 Yes Yes
Common Development and Distribution License Sun Microsystems 1.0 December 1, 2004 Yes Yes
Common Public License IBM 1.0 May 2001 Yes No
Creative Commons licenses Creative Commons 3.0 December 16, 2002 — Some
Cryptix General License Cryptix Foundation ? 1995 Yes Yes
Eclipse Public License Eclipse Foundation 1.0 ? Yes No
Educational Community License ? 1.0 ? Yes Yes
Eiffel Forum License NICE 2 2002 Yes Yes
GNU General Public License Free Software Foundation 3.0 June 2007 No No
GNU Lesser General Public License Free Software Foundation 3.0 June 2007 Yes No
Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software License Agreement Hacktivismo/Cult of the Dead Cow ? November 26, 2002 ? ?
IBM Public License IBM 1.0 August 1999 Yes Yes
Intel Open Source License Intel Corporation ? ? Yes Yes
ISC licence Internet Systems Consortium ? ? Yes Yes
LaTeX Project Public License LaTeX project 1.3c ? Yes Yes
MIT license / X11 license MIT —Template:Fn 1988 Yes Yes
Mozilla Public License Mozilla Foundation 1.1 ? Yes Limited
Netscape Public License Netscape 1.1 ? ? ?
Open Software License Lawrence Rosen 3.0 2005 Yes No
OpenSSL license OpenSSL Project ? ? ? ?
PHP License PHP Group 3.01 ? Yes Yes
Poetic License Alex Genaud 1.0 2005 Yes Yes
Python Software Foundation License Python Software Foundation 2 ? Yes Yes
Q Public License Trolltech ? ? No No
Sun Industry Standards Source License Sun Microsystems ? ? Yes No
Sun Public License Sun Microsystems ? ? Yes No
Sybase Open Watcom Public License ? ? ? Yes No
W3C Software Notice and License ? ? ? Yes Yes
XFree86 1.1 License ? ? ? Yes Yes
zlib/libpng license ? ? ? Yes Yes
Zope Public License ? ? ? Yes Yes
License Author Latest version Publication date Link from code with a different license Release changes under a different license

Approvals

This table lists for each licence what organizations from the free software community have approved it - be it as a "free software" or as an “open source” licence - and how those organizations categorize it. Organizations usually approve specific versions of software licences.

Licence and specific version FSF approval[2] Compatible to the GPL OSI approval[3] DFSG approval[4][5] Fedora Project approval[6]
Academic Free License Yes No Yes ? Yes
Apache License version 1 Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Apache License version 1.1 Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Apache License version 2 Yes YesTemplate:Fn Yes Yes Yes
Apple Public Source License version 1.x No No Yes No No
Apple Public Source License version 2.0 Yes No Yes No Yes
Artistic License 1.0 No No Yes Yes No
Clarified Artistic License (draft 2.0) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Artistic License 2.0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Berkeley Database License Yes Yes Yes ? ?
original BSD license Yes No Yes No Yes
modified BSD license Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Boost Software License Yes Yes Yes ? Yes
Common Development and Distribution License Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Common Public License Yes No Yes ? Yes
Creative Commons licenses (Tags: by & sa) Yes No ? No[7] Yes
Creative Commons licenses (Tags: nc & nd) No No ? No[7] by-nd only
Cryptix General License Yes Yes No ? Yes
Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License ? Yes ? ? Yes
Eclipse Public License Yes No Yes ? Yes
Educational Community License ? ? Yes ? Yes
Eiffel Forum License version 2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
GNU General Public License Yes YesTemplate:Fn YesTemplate:Fn Yes Yes
GNU Lesser General Public License Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software License Agreement No No No ? No
IBM Public License Yes No Yes ? Yes
Intel Open Source License Yes Yes Yes ? No
ISC licence Yes[8] Yes Yes Yes Yes
LaTeX Project Public License Yes No No Yes Yes
MIT license Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mozilla Public License Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Netscape Public License Yes No No ? Yes
Open Software License Yes No Yes No Yes
OpenSSL license Yes No No Yes Yes
PHP License Yes No Yes Yes v3.0/3.01 only, others are unknown
POV-Ray-Licence No No No No ?
Python Software Foundation License 2.0.1; 2.1.1 and newer Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Q Public License Yes No Yes ? Yes
Sun Industry Standards Source License Yes No Yes ? Yes
Sun Public License Yes No Yes ? Yes
Sybase Open Watcom Public License ? ? Yes ? No
W3C Software Notice and License Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
XFree86 1.1 License Yes YesTemplate:Fn No ? ?
zlib/libpng license Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Zope Public License version 1.0 Yes No ? ? Yes
Zope Public License version 2.0 Yes Yes Yes ? Yes
Licence and specific version FSF approval Compatible to the GPL OSI approval DFSG approval Fedora Project approval

Notes

  • Template:Fnb Was never revised.
  • Template:Fnb Compatible to version 3 of the GPL but not compatible to version 2.
  • Template:Fnb The original version of the Artistic License is defined as non-free because it is overly vague, not because the substance of the licence. The FSF encourages projects to use the Clarified Artistic License instead.[1]
  • Template:Fnb Incompatible with the BSD license.
  • Template:Fnb Only the modified license, without the advertising clause.

References

  1. ^ Rusin, Zack. "Open Source Licenses Comparison". Retrieved 2006-10-16.
  2. ^ Free Software Foundation. "Various Licenses and Comments about Them". Licenses. Free Software Foundation.
  3. ^ Open Source Initiative. "The Approved Licenses". License Information. Open Source Initiative.
  4. ^ Debian. "Debian - License information". Licenses. Debian.
  5. ^ "The DFSG and Software Licenses". Debian wiki.
  6. ^ Fedora. "Licensing - FedoraProject". Licenses. Fedora Project.
  7. ^ a b "debian-legal Summary of Creative Commons 2.0 Licenses".
  8. ^ Free Software Foundation. "A Quick Guide to GPLv3". Licenses. Free Software Foundation.

See also

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