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. We have got to know from legal department that we cant use lgpl 2. Why corporations favors the apache license over the gpllgpl. The lgpl does, however, require that any changes to the lgpl component is released as lgpl including source code. Software licenses in plain english lookup popular software licenses summarized ataglance. This would be incompatible with asfs requirement that all apache software must be distributed under the apache license 2.
In this video, i will explain what are open source licenses and which one to use. Comparison of free and opensource software licenses. The gnu lgpl is very popular among independent developers and companies which mainly deal with open source software. Patent clauses in software licences software patents. You may redistribute the product as long as you provide the license text or a link to the license text with the software package. Among the permissive class of free software licences, apache 2.
The apache software foundation asf, clearly say that forking some apache licensed code into your gpl project is illegal because then the apache software would have to be distributed under gplv3. However, gplv3 software cannot be included in apache projects. Downstream users of apache licensed software are given wide latitude as to how they use and license the software. The gnu gpl general public license covers over 50% of the free software projects including the linux kernel, busybox and many applications. What is foss licensesapache, bsd, gpl, lgpl explained. The lgpl on the other hand has the requirement that either the lgpl library links dynamically and can be replaced by a user or the entire work must be released under a gplcompatible opensource license. Each time you redistribute the library or any work based on the library, the recipient automatically receives. The apache software foundation asf is a nonprofit corporation to support apache software projects. See the license for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the license. You should have received a copy of the gnu library general public license along with this library. Why is lgpl not allowed the apache software foundation.
What is foss licenses apache, bsd, gpl, lgpl explained. The spdx license list is a list of commonly found licenses and exceptions used in free and open source and other collaborative software or documentation. Free software foundation software is covered by the gnu library general public license instead. 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. It also contains a patent license and retaliation clause which is designed to prevent patents including patent trolls from encumbering the software project. You should have received a copy of the gnu lesser general public license along with this library. Each time you redistribute the library or any work based on.
Lgpl license is incompatible with apache license issue. Right now there are two licenses that are most commonly used for open source software the gnu public license gnu lesser public license and the apache license. The apache license does not place any restrictions on software that links to a plugin or library that is distributed under the apache license. The patent provisions of the common public license cpl and eclipse public license epl are described by mark webbink as quite similar to that of the apache license, version 2. You can therefore only license code under the lgpl2. In most cases when open source code is licensed under two licenses, the licensee gets to select which one applies to their use. Spdx license list software package data exchange spdx. Apache 2 software can therefore be included in gplv3 projects, because the gplv3 license accepts our software into gplv3 works. These and other answers about the scope of patent grants for contributions under the apache 2. For a list of licenses not specifically intended for software, see list of free content licenses.
If youre a software developer, you probably use open source components and libraries to build software. The openoffice product has been published under various licenses since it was first made available as open source in 2000. The licenses are incompatible in one direction only, and it is a result of asfs licensing. Tldrlegal software licenses explained in plain english. Asfs objective is to provide legal protection to volunteers working on the apache project and to protect the apache brand name from being used by other organization. It is a composite expression constructed using parentheses, and or operators, and the with operator for license exceptions see below. All packages produced by the asf are implicitly licensed under the apache license, version 2. The text should be enclosed in the appropriate comment syntax for the file format. Please note that this license is not compatible with gpl version 2, because it has some requirements that are not in that gpl version. They say that richfaces which is licensed under lgpl v2. If you were wondering whether you can use apache licensed code in your commercial applications and what do you need to do in order to comply with the license heres the unofficial simple ans short answer. The difference between the gpl and the lgpl is that with the lgpl, the entire work doesnt have to have the same license.
The content on this website, of which is the author, is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4. This is a comparison of free and opensource software licenses. If i modify code that is dual licensed under the gpl and. Top 10 apache license questions answered whitesource.
Open source licenses explained which one to use apache. Gnu lesser gpl and apache software licenses denver. The terms state that users cant remove existing, patent, trademarks and attribution notices. As the importance of developers has grown in the software industry, apache style licensing has boomed, outpacing gpllicensed projects to a considerable degree. However, the linking exception of the lgpl allows linking from an apache 2. Its also arguable whether the licenses mentioned other than apache have an implicit patent grant. The need for such a framework arises because the different licenses can contain contradictory requirements, rendering it impossible to legally combine source code from separatelylicensed software in order to create and publish a new program. These include certain patent termination and indemnification provisions.
Since my project places no constraint on the distribution of the larger work, i do not see why i should have to change the license in order to. Various licenses and comments about them gnu project. 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. Gnu gpl, lgpl, apache licence types and differences. Among the two gpl is the basis of open source software for programmers. So, for instance, the mit license grants users the right to deal in the software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, andor sell copies of the software. Third party software notices andor additional terms and. Ive seen rare cases where the licensor explicitly stipulates a dual license to mean both apply simultaneously. No, you may not distribute the combined daemon using gplv2 and aplv2 licensed material. License compatibility is a legal framework that allows for pieces of software with different software licenses to be distributed together.
As a reminder, open source software licenses generally. Extio 3 series, maevex 6100 series, maevex 6020 remote recorder, mura ipx series, and liberatus 2 58 third party software notices andor additional terms and conditions. The fsf claims that gpl v2 is incompatible with apache 2. The simplest way to express the license for a file is with a single license id such as apache 2. See the gnu lesser general public license for more details. In contrast to lgpl, gpl requires that you provide the code for all changes made to the software. This figure has been carefully crafted so following a path determines if two licenses are compatible. The free software foundation considers the apache license, version 2. Keep in mind that this is the apache software foundations interpretation of its apache 2. Do i need to dual license it under apache to fix this.
Heres the part of the lgpl that poses the restriction. I have an lgpl library and there is a desire to see it included in an apache project. The gnu lesser general public license lgpl is a free software license, allowing you to use the software document art work without any licensing fees. To apply the apache license to your work, attach the following boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets replaced with your own identifying information. Fsf explicitly calls out that combination as not allowable for public distribution.
License lgpl and is described in more detail later in this chapter. If your software is a combinedderivate work withof apache2 software, you cannot license that software under the gpl2 and therefore cannot license it under the lgpl2. Heres the second post in our free software license faq series. The gpl licenses gplv3, gplv2, lgpl, affero gpl all contain some kind of sharealike license.
The incompatibility of apache2 and gpl2 is well documented. The purpose of the spdx license list is to enable easy and efficient identification of such licenses and exceptions in. Gnu lesser general public license apache openoffice wiki. Weve compiled a list of your top 10 questions about the gpl license in the last post. Free software license provider mit license, apache license 2019 apache license.
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