Comparison of free software licences

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This is a comparison of published free software licences.

Contents

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 Sleepycat Software, inc.  ?  ? 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 N/A 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 N/A0 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  ? Yes No
OpenSSL license OpenSSL Project  ?  ?  ?  ?
PHP License PHP Group 3.01  ? 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]
Academic Free License Yes No Yes  ?
Apache License version 1 Yes No Yes Yes
Apache License version 2 Yes Yes1 Yes Yes
Apple Public Source License version 1.x No No Yes No
Apple Public Source License version 2.0 Yes No Yes No
Artistic License 1.0 No No Yes  ?
Clarified Artistic License (draft 2.0) Yes Yes Yes  ?
Artistic License 2.0 Yes Yes Yes  ?
Berkeley Database License Yes Yes Yes  ?
original BSD license Yes No Yes No
modified BSD license Yes Yes Yes Yes
Boost Software License Yes Yes Yes  ?
Common Development and Distribution License Yes No Yes  ?
Common Public License Yes No Yes  ?
Creative Commons licenses (Tags: by & sa) Yes No  ? No[5]
Creative Commons licenses (Tags: nc & nd) No No  ? No[5]
Cryptix General License Yes Yes No  ?
Eclipse Public License Yes No Yes  ?
Educational Community License  ?  ? Yes  ?
Eiffel Forum License version 2 Yes Yes Yes Yes
GNU General Public License Yes Yes3 Yes3 Yes
GNU Lesser General Public License Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software License Agreement No No No  ?
IBM Public License Yes No Yes  ?
Intel Open Source License Yes Yes Yes  ?
ISC licence Yes[6] Yes Yes Yes
LaTeX Project Public License Yes No No Yes
MIT license Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mozilla Public License Yes No Yes  ?
Netscape Public License Yes No No  ?
Open Software License Yes No Yes  ?
OpenSSL license Yes No No Yes
PHP License Yes No Yes Yes
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  ?
Sun Industry Standards Source License Yes No Yes  ?
Sun Public License Yes No Yes  ?
Sybase Open Watcom Public License  ?  ? Yes  ?
W3C Software Notice and License Yes Yes Yes Yes
XFree86 1.1 License Yes Yes1 No  ?
zlib/libpng license Yes Yes Yes Yes
Zope Public License version 1.0 Yes No  ?  ?
Zope Public License version 2.0 Yes Yes Yes  ?
Licence and specific version FSF approval Compatible to the GPL OSI approval DFSG approval

Notes

  • Note 0: Was never revised.
  • Note 1: Compatible to version 3 of the GPL but not compatible to version 2.
  • Note 2: 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]
  • Note 3: Incompatible with the BSD license.
  • Note 4: Only the modified license, without the advertising clause.

References

  1. ^ Rusin, Zack. "Open Source Licenses Comparison". Retrieved on 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. ^ a b "debian-legal Summary of Creative Commons 2.0 Licenses".
  6. ^ Free Software Foundation. "A Quick Guide to GPLv3". Licenses. Free Software Foundation.

See also

Free software portal
 This free software-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_software_licences"

This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

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