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. The gnu general public license and lesser general public. The gnu general public license and lesser general public license only address copying or conveying, in gplv3 terminology, not use. Top 10 gnu gpl license questions answered whitesource. 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. I think you can use a license agreement like extjs. Can i use gpl software in a commercial application software. 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. In reading it, it is clear that usage of the gpl 2. General public license, you may choose any version of the gnu lesser. You can distribute your application using a gpl library commercially, but you must also provide the source code. 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. Does using the gpl for a program make it gnu software.
Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu. Can you ask the future user for money for to customize it. Blender is released under the gnu general public license gpl, or free software. The following licenses are in use for r or associated software such as packages. Gplcompatible software is software whose conditions of propagation, modification and use would permit combination with gcc in accord with the license of gcc. Id also like to make it clear that it cant be used for military andor commercial uses. Ffmpeg is licensed under the gnu lesser general public license lgpl version 2. General public license ever published by the free software foundation. This is an attempt to clarify the most important issues. It allows people to use extjs under gnu gpl if people are ready to release their code under gpl too but if people want to distribute their code under nongpl license agreements and put up their own license, they must. The gnu general public license hereinafter referred to as the gpl was created by computer programmer richard stallman as a rebellious reaction to the enormous growth of proprietary software. Gimp about gimp gimp gnu image manipulation program. This can be further shortened to gpl, when it is understood that the gnu gpl is the one intended. As used herein, this license refers to version 3 of the gnu lesser general public license, and the gnu gpl refers to version 3 of the gnu general public license.
The terms of usage and rules about copying are clearly listed in the gnu general public license. However, businesses using gnu software in commercial activity, and people doing public ftp distribution, should need to check the real. The lesser general public license lgpl is a more permissive license weak copyleft. There is a nice frequently asked questions faq page. Gnu altalanos nyilvanos licenc egy altalanos celu nyilt forraskodu licenc, amelyet a free software foundation fsf tervezett a gnu projekt programkodjaihoz. People often ask why postgresql is not released under the gnu general public license. Verwendung gpllizenzierter komponenten in kommerziellen. It is free to download and free to use, either personally or commercially, on any number of pcs.
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. Jun 29, 2007 the gnu general public license does not permit incorporating your program into proprietary programs. Track in fossa gnu lesser general public license v2. If your program is a subroutine library, you may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the library. 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. The virtualbox base package contains the full virtualbox source code and platform binaries and is licensed under the gnu general public license. If this is what you want to do, use the gnu lesser general public license instead of this license. Can you make it your property and hold all the code private, if you dont sell the full like in question 2. The gnu general public license gives permission to release a modified version without this exception. This general public license applies to most of the free software foundations software and to. The gpl was created by richard stallman in order to protect gnu software from being made proprietary. The gnu project itself encourages people who redistribute free. Conditions on distributing ghostscript in a commercial context.
The gnu general public license, often shortened to gnu gpl or simply gpl, lists terms and conditions for copying, modifying and distributing free software. It doesnt force you to distribute all your programs on gpl, nor to use gpl for everything. If you would like to read more about this topic, then please take a look at the mailing list archives at one of the many discussions on this subject. Frequently answered questions open source initiative. The gnu lesser general public license lgpl is a free software license published by the free software foundation fsf. Priority technical support will be given to users who have purchased a commercial license for the appropriate software. 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. However, businesses using gnu software in commercial activity, and people doing. Although most people just download the installer, you also have full read access to the source code of this program. A gnu general public license rovid neve gpl, magyarul.
This allows you to choose between the gnu general public license gpl and the. Habe ich fair userechte angemessene verwendung im umgang mit dem. Gnu general public license v3 gpl3 explained in plain english. We, the free software foundation, use the gnu general public license for most of our software. You may copy, distribute and modify the software as long as you track changesdates of in source files and keep modifications under gpl. You can distribute and modify the base package, provided that you distribute all modifications under the gplv2 as well. The library refers to a covered work governed by this license, other than an application or a combined work as defined below. Some modules we make are using more permissive licenses, though, for example, the blender cycles rendering engine is available as apache 2. The gnu affero general public license agpl ghostscript is a ed work whose is owned by artifex software, inc. I think the person that publish its software under the gpl license. The library refers to a covered work governed by this license, other than an application or a. For example, if you write some software and release it under the gnu general public license a widelyused copyleft license, and then someone else modifies that software and distributes their modified version, the modified version must be licensed under the gnu gpl too including any new code written specifically to go into the modified. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. The gnu general public license and other licenses under which sweet home 3d, furniture library editor, textures library editor applications and sweet home 3d js library are available, allow you to publish the documents created with these applications, whether for personal or commercial use, within the limits of the rights granted by the.
Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail. It allows people to use extjs under gnu gpl if people are ready to release their code under gpl too but if people want to distribute their code under nongpl license agreements and put up their own license, they must purchase the commercial version of the product. 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. 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. It was named the gnu gpl, as it was initially used by stallman to license the gnu operating system. The lgpl and gpl licenses differ with one major exception. Can gpl licenced software be used in corporate environments. 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. Legal issues are a constant source of questions and confusion. 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. You may also copy, distribute, modify, andor resell audacity, under the terms of the gnu general public license gpl.
The gnu lesser general public license lgpl is a freesoftware license published by the free software foundation fsf. The result is that any software that uses any gpl open source. If you make a website under gnu general public license. The gnu general public license gpl is a free, copyleft license used primarily for software. Gnu general public license, version 3 spdx short identifier. If you are calling or otherwise using the public apis of the gnu app then your app is saleable provided you package and distribute the gnu app as a separate component complete with the original app and make it clear in your documentation that you are using the gnu library and it still belongs to its original authors under the gnu license terms. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu project. Gnu public license is all but free and you should never use it. The sourcecode license governing your use of the snort engine and the community snort rules is the gnu general public license version 2. Cisco uses a dual license strategy for the snort source code. Tortoisesvn is an open source project developed under the gnu general public license gpl. 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.
But if you happen to be using linux, then youre actually using the gpl license. You should have received a copy of the gnu general public license along with this program. Gimp is an acronym for gnu image manipulation program. We also use thirdparty cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Introduction gimp is an acronym for gnu image manipulation program. That means you are free to download, reuse, modify, and distribute any files hosted in s git repositories under the terms of either the gpl version 2 or version 3, and to run drupal in. Haufig gestellte fragen zur gnu gplv2 gnuprojekt free.
Can you commercialize a gnu general public license product. The text of the gnu general public license gpl is in a file named copying in various directories in your linux system. The use of the publicaccess free versions of ghostscript. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The virtualbox extension pack is available under the virtualbox. Jul 20, 2017 the virtualbox base package contains the full virtualbox source code and platform binaries and is licensed under the gnu general public license, version 2.
Remarks by craig mundie, microsoft senior vice president, the commercial software model the new york university stern school of business 3 may 2001. The creative commons attributionsharealike international license version 4. 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 general public license gpl gnu library or lesser general public license lgpl mit license. Gnu lgpl information this library is free software.
The following osiapproved licenses are popular, widely used, or have strong communities. No commercial software, no code that you keep for yourself, no way to use it. In general, the idea of using x for everything is a rather bad one, regardless of x. Drupal, and all contributed files that are derivative works of drupal hosted on, are licensed under the gnu general public license, version 2 or later. Lgpl is used to license free software so that it can be incorporated into both free and proprietary software. See the gnu general public license for more details. Gpl is provided through the free software foundation, a nonprofit corporation that works to provide free software for the gnu project. In fact, you can use the software for any purpose you want, because you arent even required to accept the license. 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. The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate lgpl.
Software under the gpl may be run for all purposes, including commercial. The gnu gpl allows users to change and share all versions of a program. The most widespread such license is the gnu general public license, or gnu gpl for short. 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. Most gpl version 2 software is actually licensed as gpl version 2 or any later version, or. Anything statically linked to the library can only be redistributed under lgpl, but applications that use the library. First, this post covers almost exclusively gpl licensed. What is gnu general public license gnu gpl or simply gpl.
Since the gpl may be too restrictive for use in a proprietary application, a commercial license is also provided. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. If i use gpl software in my application, but dont modify or distribute it. This license agreement applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by the holder saying it may be distributed under the terms of this general public license.
Gpl is the acronym for gnus general public license, and its one of the most. The sourcecode license governing your use of the proprietary snort rules is the noncommercial use license for the proprietary snort rules. All of the gnu development tools, such as gnu binutils, gcc, gdb and gnu make, are governed by the terms of the gnu general public license. The usual disclaimers apply, this is not legal advice. If the library as you received it specifies that a proxy can decide. Describes the ability to use the software for commercial purposes. You may copy, distribute and modify the software provided that you state modifications and license them under lgpl2. Many other licenses are also osiapproved, but fall into other categories, such as specialpurpose licenses.
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