Haufig gestellte fragen zur gnu gplv2 free software foundation. This document attempts to draw together the main features of the gnu general public license v2 into a friendly and comprehensible digest and, in addition, to. Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail. A practical guide to gpl compliance software freedom law. Software as a service and gnu gpl licensing is not complex, the motto of the license is for disallowing the softwares to control the users and modify, distribute, develop, use the softwares with full freedom along with the other points written in the license. You can distribute your application using a gpl library commercially, but you must also provide the source code. Should you use a gnu gpl or mit open source license. The gnu free documentation license gnu fdl or simply gfdl is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the free software foundation fsf for the gnu project. Craig mundie, microsoft senior vice president, the commercial software model the new york university stern. In granting you this right, the gpl requires that the source code you distribute is itself available under the gpl. What if my school might want to make my program into its own proprietary software product. Since the source code is universally available, there are also many more chances for bugs to be caught and fixed.
If you distribute gpllicenced binaries, you will have to comply with the gpl. Gpl is the acronym for gnu s general public license, and its one of the most popular open source licenses. It is a specific implementation of his copyleft concept. 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. If you want an example of including gpl d software as part of a commercial offering, look at os x. Can i use gpl software binaries in commercial environment. The gnu gpl is the most widely used free software license and has a strong. 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. You can license your commercial application under the gplv3 license as long as you comply with the terms of the gplv3 license. 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.
For now, gnu gpl is an enforceable contract, says us federal. Gpl je nejpopularnejsim a dobre znamym prikladem silne copyleftove licence, ktera vyzaduje, aby byla odvozena dila dostupna pod toutez licenci. Gimp about gimp gimp gnu image manipulation program. The foss license exception permits use of the gpllicensed mysql client libraries with software applications licensed under certain other foss licenses without causing the entire derivative work to be subject to the gpl. If software is licenced under a gpl license, can it be used without restriction in a corporate commercial environment. When license your code under gpl you refuse to take part on that. Zabbix is free and open source software, however, if you use zabbix in a commercial context we kindly ask you to support development of zabbix by purchasing some level of commercial support.
If you want an example of including gpld software as part of a commercial offering, look at os x. It is thus ensured that mysql will continue to be freely available in the sense of the open source idea. 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 majority of all open source projects are licensed under gpl version 2. The notion that proprietary software can become subject to these open source license terms by the. Can gpl licenced software be used in corporate environments. Some modules we make are using more permissive licenses, though, for example, the blender cycles rendering engine is available as apache 2.
Qgis is an official project of the open source geospatial foundation osgeo. Most of these opinions were formed in discussions on the debianlegal mailing list in response to questions from potential package maintainers or licensors. 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. The gnu gpl requires that when you use gpllicensed software to make some other software, the resulting software also has to be opensourced with. Gpl compatible software is software whose conditions of propagation, modification and use would permit combination with gcc in accord with the license of gcc.
The terms of usage and rules about copying are clearly listed in the gnu general public license. See the gnu general public license for more details. Gnu public license is all but free and you should never. Open source licenses grant permission for anybody to use, modify, and share licensed software for any purpose, subject to conditions preserving the provenance and openness of the software. About using gnu gpl 2, gnu gpl 3 and lgpl software in a commercial product hot network questions what are the risks of using money sent to you by a scammer, once the transaction is irreversible. This latter point distinguishes the gpl from software licenses that prohibit commercial redistribution. Open source would be exploited and its code would be used in proprietary software without any benefits.
The gnu general public license gnu gpl or simply gpl is a widely used free software license, originally written by. So we will not distribute software that is licensed freely for non commercial use. The most widespread such license is the gnu general public license, or gnu gpl for short. Boston, massachusetts, usamonday, november 19, 2007the free software foundation fsf today published the gnu affero general public license version 3 gnu agplv3. If that commercial application is what youre selling, then youre giving a copy of that software in exchange for money. Its built with and comes with an awful lot of gpl d software. There are multiple variants of the gnu gpl, each with different requirements. Gplcompatible software is software whose conditions of propagation, modification and use would permit combination with gcc in accord with the license of gcc. For commercial applications of mysql there is a second, commercial license available in addition to gpl. In this case, complying with the gpl means distributing the unmodified source for the gpllicensed program, per section 6 of gplv3 and section 3 of gplv2. The licenses used by gnu are the free software foundation family of licenses.
Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu. This page presents the opinion of some debianlegal contributors on how certain licenses follow the debian free software guidelines dfsg. Top 10 gnu gpl license questions answered whitesource. When a program is licensed under the gnu general public license the gpl. See also frequently asked questions about the gnu gpl. Gnu public license is all but free and you should never use it. Spywares are everywhere in proprietary softwares, its a thing.
These are examples of the license accompanying code, and you can find other examples at the gpl has nothing to do with whether you charge for the software or distribute it for free. Software licensed with any gnu license can be used and even. Can i use gpl software in a commercial application software. This can be further shortened to gpl, when it is understood that the gnu gpl is the one intended. The gnu general public license is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works. Gpl licenses allow for commercial as well as noncommercial use. 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. The gnu gpl is the most widely used free software license and has a strong copyleft requirement. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu project. Can gnu licensed software be used for commercial gain without.
In accordance with the software freedom law centers sflcs philosophy of assisting the community with gpl compliance cooperatively, this guide focuses on avoiding compliance actions and minimizing the negative impact when enforcement. It is similar to the gnu general public license, giving readers the rights to copy, redistribute, and modify except for invariant sections a work and requires all copies and derivatives to be available under the same. Gnu public license is all but free and you should never use. For example, type the following command to find a copy of that file in your linux system for various items. The gpl licenses gplv3, gplv2, lgpl, affero gpl all contain some kind of sharealike license. Does the foss license exception apply to all oracle software products, including the mysql database server. The text of the gnu general public license gpl is in a file named copying in various directories in your linux system. Nov 10, 2005 the gnu general public license v2 gpl v2 for short is the most commonly used open source licence. The goal of the gpl license is to keep software free. Most gpl version 2 software is actually licensed as gpl version 2 or any later version, or. Gnu general public license, version 3 spdx short identifier. 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.
Version 2 of the gnu general public license gpl is probably the most commonly used open source software license. We welcome enquiries from maintainers considering particular licenses, but we. Gnu general public license software as part of commercial product. Can gnu licensed software be used for commercial gain. 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. Aug 26, 2008 this is a guide to effective compliance with the gnu general public license gpl and related licenses.
I would like to release a program i wrote under the gnu gpl, but i. A copy of that license is included in this document on page x. It is used to distribute a number of important open source software projects, including the linux kernel. Jun 29, 2007 the gnu general public license is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works. A practical guide to gpl compliance software freedom law center. The software included in this product contains ed software that is licensed under the gpl. Creative commons licenses are several licenses released on december 16, 2002 by creative commons, a u. The gpl permits you to create and distribute an aggregate, even when the licenses of the other software are nonfree or gplincompatible. For now, gnu gpl is an enforceable contract, says us. You have the right to use the program for any purpose. The licence of software included in ubuntu can not discriminate against anyone or any group of users and cannot restrict users from using the software for a particular field of endeavour a business for example. 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.
Can i use the gplv3 license for my commercial application. They essentially say if you make a derivative work of this, and distribute it to others under certain circumstances, then you have to provide the source code under this license. Gpl program is infecting and infected the parent and the child non gpl process proprietary and even other open source license from the. The only condition is that you cannot release the aggregate under a license that prohibits users from exercising rights that each programs individual license would. 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. After you find the file, you can change to that directory and type more copying to read the gpl. If software is licenced under a gpl license, can it be used without restriction in a corporatecommercial environment. Gnu general public license software as part of commercial.
If you distribute or recommend audacity in any way, please cite our trademark by referring to audacity as audacityr. Nov 19, 2007 boston, massachusetts, usamonday, november 19, 2007the free software foundation fsf today published the gnu affero general public license version 3 gnu agplv3. Can i use gpllicensed software in a commercial program. By contrast, the gnu general public license is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a.
Yes its very confusing, see s section on license compatibility for more information. You should have received a copy of the gnu general public license along with this program. Free software foundation releases gnu affero general. A primer on open source software for business people and lawyers. Use of the manual is a subject to the following terms. Qgis is a user friendly open source geographic information system gis licensed under the gnu general public license. The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed to take away your freedom to share and change the works. However, businesses using gnu software in commercial activity, and people doing public ftp. You may copy, distribute and modify the software as long as you track changesdates of in source files and keep modifications under gpl.
Introduction gimp is an acronym for gnu image manipulation program. You may discover, however that these terms do not work so well in your favor, since one of the terms prevents you from a. Free software foundation releases gnu affero general public. There is a nice frequently asked questions faq page. We use only licenses that are compatible with the gnu gpl for gnu software. The software that i am refering to is qgis which provides this description. Gnu general public license, gnu gpl cesky obecna verejna licence gnu je licence pro svobodny software, puvodne napsana richardem stallmanem pro projekt gnu. The gpl the gnu general public license the most popular copyleft licence, sometimes gets a hostile press, often for reasons that dont reflect its real and positive effects. Richard stallman created the gpl to protect the gnu software from being made proprietary. When distributing derived works, the source code of the work must be made available under the same license. Gpl enforces sharing improvements too and improve the integrity of the project. Approximately 70% of the projects in the software repository sourceforge use the gpl v2. 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.
Jun 15, 2012 the gpl the gnu general public license the most popular copyleft licence, sometimes gets a hostile press, often for reasons that dont reflect its real and positive effects. Gimp is an acronym for gnu image manipulation program. May 11, 2017 the gnu gpl requires that when you use gpllicensed software to make some other software, the resulting software also has to be opensourced with the same license if its released to the public. Today gpl and free software is more about enforcing transparency for the users. By contrast, our general public license is intended to give everyone the right to share gnu emacs. The following licenses are sorted by the number of conditions, from most gnu agplv3 to none unlicense. Gnu general public license wikipedia, a enciclopedia livre. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
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