The gnu general public license gpl is a computer software copyleft license. 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, and modify the software. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or simply gpl is a widely used open source software license, originally written by richard stallman for the gnu project. If you should know, there are several other open source licenses too, some of which claim to offer even more freedom than the gpl such as mozilla public license, bsd licence, apache 2. Is there any software license that does this for non commercial uses, and prevents any commercial use including using the software in order to. Government computer software acquisition and the gnu.
Busybox is licensed under the gnu general public license. Some versions of ghostscript are distributed freely under the name gpl ghostscript or for older versions gnu ghostscript. Since the gpl may be too restrictive for use in a proprietary application, a commercial license is also provided. The usual disclaimers apply, this is not legal advice. Verwendung gpllizenzierter komponenten in kommerziellen. Conditions on distributing ghostscript in a commercial context.
This latter point distinguishes the gpl from software licenses that prohibit commercial redistribution. The gnu general public license is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works. Gnu general public license software as part of commercial. The implication is that gpled software is not necessarily free from cost, and therefore you can in fact license your programs under the gpl and still sell them for money. Advocates of the gnu general public license gnu gpl like to perpetuate the idea that programs released under it are free as in speech, not free as in beer. Both filezilla and filezilla server as downloadable from are free opensource software distributed under the terms and conditions of the gnu general public license gpl version 2 or at your option any later version. Blender is released under the gnu general public license gpl, or free software this license grants people a number of freedoms. Jun 29, 2007 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. Craig mundie, microsoft senior vice president, the commercial software model the new york university stern school of. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. This page is maintained by the free software foundations licensing and compliance lab. Explaining and understanding the gnu general public license. Nov 02, 2016 the gnu general public license exists to protect the liberties of software creators and users alike.
Can gpl licenced software be used in corporate environments. This general public license applies to most of the free software. Gnu general public license wikipedia, a enciclopedia livre. The gnu general public license gpl is a free, copyleft license used primarily for software.
Gnu general public license this license, commonly known as the gpl, has two versions that are actively and widely used in many open source communities. Pengertian gnu atau gpl general public license dans. Kernel inti dasar sistem operasi linux dikembangkan pertama kali pada tahun 1991 oleh linus torvalds. Html, plain text, odf, docbook v4 or v5, texinfo, latex, markdown, and rtf. Nov 12, 2014 gnu lesser general public license lgpl merupakan versi lain gpl, ditujukan untuk penggunaan beberapa software library. Richard stallman created the gpl to protect the gnu software from. The gpl license grants the users irrevocable rights to use, modify and redistribute software even commercially under the condition that software or its derivatives retain the gpl license and that the source code is included or. Gnu linux atau sering disingkat linux, adalah sistem operasi yang bersifat open source. For example, type the following command to find a copy of that file in your linux system for various items. You might also granting the free licenses on demand, e. Busybox is licensed under the gnu general public license version 2, which is often abbreviated as gplv2.
The license was originally written by richard stallman of the free software foundation fsf for the gnu project, and grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software definition. The gnu affero general public license is a free, copyleft license published by the free software foundation in november 2007, and based on the gnu general public license, version 3 and the affero general public license. Gnulinux atau sering disingkat linux, adalah sistem operasi yang bersifat open source. Gnu general public license simple english wikipedia, the. If you are interested in using content for commercial purposes. The gnu general public license is often called the gnu gpl for short. A practical guide to gpl compliance software freedom law. Gnu general public license, version 2 spdx short identifier. Gimp about gimp gimp gnu image manipulation program.
The licenses were originally written by richard stallman, former head of the free software foundation fsf, for the gnu project, and grant the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software definition. Legal issues are a constant source of questions and confusion. Can i use gpl software in a commercial application software. Jun 09, 2016 the gnu general public license gnu gpl or simply gpl is a widely used open source software license, originally written by richard stallman for the gnu project. Describes the ability to use the software for commercial purposes.
This is a comparison of free and opensource software licenses. This license lets the user of the software use a program in many of the same ways as if it were public domain. Id also like to make it clear that it cant be used for military andor commercial uses. Where indicated, each software product available from. The gnu general public license gives permission to release a modified version without this exception. However, businesses using gnu software in commercial activity, and people doing. This is the same license the linux kernel is under, so you may be somewhat familiar with it by now.
Why the gpl is incompatible with commercial software. For a list of licenses not specifically intended for software, see list of free content licenses. This guarantees your right to use, modify, and redistribute this software under. The following licenses are in use for r or associated software such as packages. The terms of usage and rules about copying are clearly listed in the gnu general. This software and derivatives may be used for commercial purposes. Top 10 gnu gpl license questions answered whitesource. The free software foundation may publish revised andor new versions. This can be further shortened to gpl, when it is understood that the gnu gpl is the one intended. This allows you to choose between the gnu general public license gpl and the. The most widespread such license is the gnu general public license, or gnu gpl for short.
Modification of l gpld components suggests contribution back to the creatormaintainer. Gnu general public license v3 gpl3 explained in plain english. Dozens of software vendors already license nmap technology such as host discovery, port scanning, os detection, version detection. If you use gpl code, your code becomes covered by the gpl and you cannot provide a license for it that removes the stritures of the gnu license. You can support our efforts by making a donation to the fsf. Some modules we make are using more permissive licenses, though, for example, the blender cycles rendering engine is available as apache 2.
The text of the gnu general public license gpl is in a file named copying in various directories in your linux system. Gnu lesser general public license lgpl merupakan versi lain gpl, ditujukan untuk penggunaan beberapa software library. 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. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu. Revised versions of the gnu lesser general public license. The gnu general public license is available in these formats. By contrast, the gnu general public license is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free softwareto make sure the software is free for all its users. The gnu lesser general public license lgpl is a free software license published by the free software foundation fsf.
This general public license applies to most of the free software foundations software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. Gnu lgpl information this library is free software. Gpl is provided through the free software foundation, a nonprofit corporation that works to provide free software for the gnu project. If i use gpl software in my application, but dont modify or distribute it, do i have to. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu project. What if i modify some software that my application uses.
Version 2 gpl, but only with all of the clarifications and exceptions described herein. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or gpl is a widely used free software license, which guarantees end users the freedom to run, study, share and modify the software. In doing so, we have found that most violations stem from a few common mistakes that can be, for the most part, easily avoided. The emacs general public license, a february 1988 version, a direct predecessor of the gnu gpl. Gpl is the acronym for gnus general public license, and its one of the. Boston, massachusetts, usamonday, november 19, 2007the free software foundation fsf today published the gnu affero general public license version 3 gnu agplv3. We, the free software foundation, use the gnu general public license for most of our software.
Free software foundation releases gnu affero general. Then do i have to release my application under the gpl, or can i just supply the modified software under the gpls terms. A complete copy of the license text is included in the file license in the busybox source code. Government computer software acquisition and the gnu general. If you have licensed software youve written under gpl version 2, and you are the original licensor of that software, you may wish to relicense your software under gpl version 3. This does not mean tjhat you cannot sell the product, but it does mean that you must provide your licensees, on request, with its source code. Please notify us of any bad advert you see rightclick on them, copy the destination link address, and send it to us. Both filezilla and filezilla server as downloadable from are free opensource software distributed under the terms and conditions of the gnu general public license gpl version 2 or at your option any later version for using filezilla and filezilla. The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate a software component released under the lgpl into their own even proprietary software without being required by the terms of a strong copyleft license to release the source code of their own components. By contrast, the gnu general public license is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software to make sure the software is free for all its users. Ffmpeg is licensed under the gnu lesser general public license lgpl version 2. This is an attempt to clarify the most important issues. Comparison of free and opensource software licenses. Blender is released under the gnu general public license gpl, or free software.
If i use gpl software in my application, but dont modify or distribute it, do i have to release my application under the gpl. A practical guide to gpl compliance software freedom law center. Gplcompatible software is software whose conditions of propagation, modification and use would permit combination with gcc in accord with the license of gcc. I am looking for a software license that only allows non commercial uses copy, modify, link to. Feb 25, 2006 advocates of the gnu general public license gnu gpl like to perpetuate the idea that programs released under it are free as in speech, not free as in beer. Why should i use the gnu gpl rather than other free software licenses. Preamble the gnu general public license is a free, copyleft license for.
Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the open source definition in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. Gnu general public license software as part of commercial product. Software licensed with any gnu license can be used and even modified everywhere, including in a corporate environment, without any. Sflc continues to conduct gpl enforcement and compliance efforts for many of its clients who release their software under the gpl, the gnu lesser public license lgpl and other copyleft licenses.
Im not clear on how that affects your products licensing. This general public license applies to most of the free software foundations software and to. If you releasedistribute software using lgpld libraries, your software doesnt need to be covered by the gpl, but the libraries must retain the lgpl. Unless otherwise indicated, the source code of the zotero project is released under the gnu affero general public license version 3. The terms of usage and rules about copying are clearly listed in the gnu general public license. The gnu lesser general public license lgpl is a freesoftware license published by the free software foundation fsf. The gnu gpl allows users to change and share all versions of a program. Introduction gimp is an acronym for gnu image manipulation program.
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