DMOZ - Computers: Open Source: Licenses

Licenses

Subcategories 1

Sites 36

Some very interesting articles on free software licensing: history, forms, and problems, seen from a commercial view. Links to some license texts and important open source sites.

Affero - General Public License

Copyleft license, derived from the GNU-GPL, designed to protect software distributed as web services.

Against DRM 2.0

A free copyleft license for artworks, which forbids DRM. Includes licence text, FAQ, and a few translations.

Amoeba copyright notice

A free software OS.

Amulet License Agreement

CMU Amulet Toolkit License Agreement.

Apache Server Licenses

Overview of the different versions of the Apache licenses.

The Artistic License

Perl package license.

Bixoft Public License

A proposal for an Open Source license that clearly distinguishes between software programs and programming tools.

BSD: 4.4BSD Copyright

License for 4.4BSD.

BSD: FreeBSD Copyright

License for FreeBSD operating system.

BSD: NetBSD Licensing and Redistribution

License patterned after FreeBSD Copyright.

BSD: OpenBSD Copyright Policy

License and background on Berkeley Computer Systems Research Group copyrights.

Debian Social Contract

Initially designed as a set of commitments that the Debian developers agreed to abide by, it has later been adopted by the free software community as the basis of the Open Source Definition. The Open Directory Project's social contract was also inspired by it.

E Licenses

Mozilla or Mozilla compatible, for E programming language.

eCos License Overview

Summary of license for Red Hat eCos operating system.

GNU General Public License (GPL)

One standard for licensing free software.

GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL)

Formerly: GNU Library GPL.

GNU: List of Licenses

Various licenses and comments about them.

IBM - Common Public License (CPL)

Open source software license.

LaTeX Project Public License

Particularly suited for TeX-related programs.

License information for Xinu software

License for the XINU operating system

Lua Copyright notice

From Brazil, programming language framework.

Mozilla Public License

Describes the licensing policy of the Mozilla Foundation, and provides the full text of the license, and FAQs.

Mozilla Public License Version 1.0

Follows the Debian Free Software guidelines.

MySQL Licensing

Complex hybrid license: public domain, GPL, LGPL, Open Source, commercial.

Open Group Public License

Open Motif Graphical GUI Software, Public End User License.

Open Source Initiative - Licenses

Copies of licenses approved by the Open Source Initiative.

OpenSource.org: Open Source Definition

Not a license itself, but a definition of what conditions a license must fulfill in order to be termed an Open Source license.

PHP Licence Information

Covers licensing issues for developers distributing applications in PHP. Includes links to annotated version of the relevant licenses and other related resources.

Python License

A very permissive, open source compliant and GPL compatible license used by the team developing the Python programming language.

Quick Reference Guide

A chart comparing attributes of major licenses, including the option to select your bias.

Ruby License

Dual terms: use GPL terms or its own terms.

Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing

Full text of the book by Andrew M. St. Laurent. [PDF]

Vita Nuova Inferno Subscription License

Fee based, partly open source, for Lucent network OS.

W3C IPR Software Notice

W3C = World Wide Web Consortium, one of the Internet's main standard-setting bodies.