ISC license
Author | Internet Software Consortium |
---|---|
SPDX identifier | ISC |
Debian FSG compatible | Yes |
FSF approved | Yes |
OSI approved | Yes |
GPL compatible | Yes |
Copyleft | No |
Linking from code with a different licence | Yes |
Website | www |
The ISC license is a permissive free software license written by the Internet Software Consortium (ISC). It is functionally equivalent to the simplified BSD and MIT/Expat licenses, with language that was deemed unnecessary due to the Berne convention removed.[2][3] Initially used for ISC's own software releases, it has since become the preferred license of OpenBSD[4] (starting June 2003[5]), Node.js' npm[6] (starting February 2014[7]), and other projects.
Text
A template of this license is:
Copyright (c) Year(s), Company or Person's Name
Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
History
Before accepting the license as a free software license, the Free Software Foundation asked for clarification of the text.[citation needed] In July 2007, as a result, "and distribute" was changed to "and/or distribute".[8] The Free Software Foundation eventually approved the ISC license as a lax, permissive free software license, compatible with the GNU GPL.[9] As of March 2015[update], The OpenBSD template still uses the original "and distribute" phrasing due to concerns about the modified version.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Certified Copyfree Licenses
- ^ "OpenBSD license policy".
The ISC copyright is functionally equivalent to a two-term BSD copyright with language removed that is made unnecessary by the Berne convention.
- ^ Theo de Raadt (deraadt@) (21 March 2008). "Re: BSD Documentation License?".
That is enough to satisfy every legal system on the planet which follows the Berne Convention.
- ^ a b "OpenBSD license template".
- ^ Todd C. Miller (millert@) (3 June 2003). "CVS log for src/share/misc/license.template".
Add a license template; deraadt@ OK
- ^ "npm-config(7)".
- ^ Zeke Sikelianos (7 February 2014). "doc: new init.license default is ISC".
- ^ Paul Vixie (2007-07-20). "BIND covered under which license and does it contain any cryptographic content ?". Newsgroup: comp.protocols.dns.bind. Usenet: f7pemd$1557$1@sf1.isc.org. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ "Various Licenses and Comments about Them - ISC License". Free Software Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 1 October 2014.