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Licenses

Open source licenses grant permission to use, modify, and redistribute licensed software for any purpose, subject to conditions preserving the provenance and openness of the software.

When open source software is copied and redistributed, which is usually permitted by any type of open source license, a number of obligations and prohibitions are imposed on the distributor It is common for recipients of such software to redistribute it in such a way as to create a chain of distributors and recipients who must all comply with the same license obligations.

1. License List

1.1. SPDX

The SPDX License List is a list of commonly found licenses and exceptions used in free and open or collaborative software, data, hardware, or documentation.

A generated dataset of the SPDX license list in text format. See references for more information on SPDX.

1.2. OSADLE

The OSADLE license checklists provides a common list of license in raw data of obligations of commonly used open source software that are accepted by distributors and copyright holders and trusted by all members of the distribution chain.

2. License

The licenses represent the entire spectrum of open source licenses, from highly protective to unconditional. The following licenses are sorted by the number of conditions, from most (GNU AGPLv3) to none (Unlicense).

2.1. GNU AGPLv3

GNU AGPLv3 (Affero General Public License v3.0)

Permissions of this strongest copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. When a modified version is used to provide a service over a network, the complete source code of the modified version must be made available.

Permissions Conditions Limitations
Commercial use Disclose source Liability
Distribution License and copyright notice Warranty
Modification Network use is distribution
Patent use Same license
Private use State changes

2.2. GNU GPLv3

GNU GPLv3 (General Public License v3.0)

Permissions of this strong copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights.

Permissions Conditions Limitations
Commercial use Disclose source Liability
Distribution License and copyright notice Warranty
Modification Same license
Patent use State changes
Private use

2.3. GNU LGPLv3

GNU LGPLv3 (Lesser General Public License v3.0)

Permissions of this copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications under the same license or the GNU GPLv3. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. However, a larger work using the licensed work through interfaces provided by the licensed work may be distributed under different terms and without source code for the larger work.

Permissions Conditions Limitations
Commercial use Disclose source Liability
Distribution License and copyright notice Warranty
Modification Same license (library)
Patent use State changes
Private use

2.4. MPL 2.0

MPL 2.0 (Mozilla Public License 2.0)

Permissions of this weak copyleft license are conditioned on making available source code of licensed files and modifications of those files under the same license (or in certain cases, one of the GNU licenses). Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. However, a larger work using the licensed work may be distributed under different terms and without source code for files added in the larger work.

Permissions Conditions Limitations
Commercial use Disclose source Liability
Distribution License and copyright notice Trademark use
Modification Same license (file) Warranty
Patent use
Private use

2.5. Apache License 2.0

Apache License 2.0

A permissive license whose main conditions require preservation of copyright and license notices. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.

Permissions Conditions Limitations
Commercial use License and copyright notice Liability
Distribution State changes Trademark use
Modification Warranty
Patent use
Private use

2.6. MIT License

MIT License (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

A short and permissive license with conditions only requiring preservation of copyright and license notices. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.

Permissions Conditions Limitations
Commercial use License and copyright notice Liability
Distribution Warranty
Modification
Private use

2.7. BSL-1.0

BSL-1.0 (Boost Software License 1.0)

A permissive license only requiring preservation of copyright and license notices for source (and not binary) distribution. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.

Permissions Conditions Limitations
Commercial use License and copyright notice for source Liability
Distribution Warranty
Modification
Private use

2.8. CC0 1.0

The Unlicense

A license with no conditions whatsoever which dedicates works to the public domain. Unlicensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.

Permissions Conditions Limitations
Commercial use Liability
Distribution Warranty
Modification
Private use

3. Glossary

Definitions of the license terms.

3.1. Permissions

Open source licenses grant to the public permissions to do things with licensed works which copyright or other intellectual property laws might otherwise disallow.

  • Commercial use

    The licensed material and derivatives may be used for commercial purposes.

  • Distribution

    The licensed material may be distributed.

  • Modification

    The licensed material may be modified.

  • Patent use

    This license provides an express grant of patent rights from contributors.

  • Private use

    The licensed material may be used and modified in private.

3.2. Conditions

Most open source licenses grants of permissions are subject to compliance with conditions.

  • Disclose source

    Source code must be made available when the licensed material is distributed.

  • License and copyright notice

    A copy of the license and copyright notice must be included with the licensed material.

  • License and copyright notice for source

    A copy of the license and copyright notice must be included with the licensed material in source form, but is not required for binaries.

  • Network use is distribution

    Users who interact with the licensed material via network are given the right to receive a copy of the source code.

  • Same license

    Modifications must be released under the same license when distributing the licensed material. In some cases a similar or related license may be used.

  • Same license (file)

    Modifications of existing files must be released under the same license when distributing the licensed material. In some cases a similar or related license may be used.

  • Same license (library)

    Modifications must be released under the same license when distributing the licensed material. In some cases a similar or related license may be used, or this condition may not apply to works that use the licensed material as a library.

  • State changes

    Changes made to the licensed material must be documented.

3.3. Limitations

Most open source licenses also have limitations that usually disclaim warranty and liability, and sometimes expressly exclude patents or trademarks from licenses grants.

  • Patent use

    This license explicitly states that it does NOT grant any rights in the patents of contributors.

  • Liability

    This license includes a limitation of liability.

  • Trademark use

    This license explicitly states that it does NOT grant trademark rights, even though licenses without such a statement probably do not grant any implicit trademark rights.

  • Warranty

    This license explicitly states that it does NOT provide any warranty.

4. References