Osi agrees with fsf on all widely used free software licenses, but differ from fsfs list, as it approves against the open source definition rather than the free software definition. Keep in mind that this is the apache software foundations interpretation of its apache 2. Software grant agreement when an individual or corporation decides to donate a body of existing software or documentation to one of the apache projects, they need to execute a formal software grant agreement sga with the asf. This page presents the opinion of some debianlegal contributors on how certain licenses follow the debian free software guidelines dfsg. Volunteering at apachecon or at apache project events, meetups, or. To inspect the license terms please consult the license and notice files in the root directory of the distribution. A short guide to open source licenses smashing magazine. Apache fop comes with a number of libraries all of which are currently coming from within the apache software foundation. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code. Licensed to the apache software foundation asf under one or more contributor license. Openssl is covered by one of two licenses, depending on which release is involved. Apache openoffice is the free and open productivity suite from the apache software foundation apache openoffice features six personal productivity applications. Apache software is used in every internetconnected country on the planet.
The text should be enclosed in the appropriate comment syntax for the file format. Source code repositories at apache apache project contributors are in countries all around the world. For software licensed under the apache license version 2. The permissive software license, sometimes also called bsdlike or. Even better, for a substantial program, use the apache 2. The apache software foundation uses various licenses to distribute software and documentation, to accept regular contributions from individuals and corporations, and to accept larger grants of existing software products.
Mit license spot the differences due to the helpful visualizations at a glance category. These licenses help us achieve our goal of providing reliable and longlived software products through collaborative open source software development. The mit license is the least restrictive license out there. Apache software is an integral part of nearly every enduser computing device, from laptops to tablets to phones. Apachecon is the premier community event of the apache software foundation. Copyright 2017, the apache software foundation, licensed under the apache license. To help them work together, projects keep their source code in an internetaccessible revision control system, either subversion svn or git. The gnulgpl is very popular among independent developers and companies which mainly deals with open source software. The switch from the weak copyleft lgpl license to the more permissive al one is in response to continued requests from the wider open source community who intend to integrate infinispan into open source projects that arent lgpl. Let say a software developer uses a library for android phones to make a game, and then makes a patent claim in an attempt to extort license fees from other users wishing to make games using the same library. Tucci, ibms ginni rometty, hps meg whitman, salesforces mark benioff or saps bill.
If the software developer did this, they would immediately lose their right to use the library under the apache license. 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. Apache projects are defined by collaborative, consensusbased processes, an open, pragmatic software license and a desire to create high quality software. Why corporations favors the apache license over the gpllgpl. What are the real life implications for an apache 2 license. Marketplace events planet eclipse newsletter videos blogs.
Pragmaticapache projects use the broadly permissive apache license. In all cases, there is a file named license in the toplevel of the release. Most of these opinions were formed in discussions on the debianlegal mailing list in response to questions from potential package maintainers or licensors. You should include a copy of the apache license, typically in a file called license, in your work, and consider also including a notice file. Asf contributor agreements the apache software foundation. Infinispan to adopt the apache software license planet. Comparison of free and opensource software licences. Top 10 apache license questions answered whitesource. So, youre working on that cool new project for a while and youre ready now to make the critical move from closed source to open source. Open source, and, more specifically, the apache software foundation asf projects which provide some of the most innovative software on the planet, free of charge. The confluent community license is not approved by the osi and likely would not be as it excludes the use case of creating a saas offering of the code. With open source licenses explained here, it should help you choose the right open source license for your project. The apache software foundation celebrates 20 years of. Yet, many foss licenses, like the apache license, and all free software licenses allow commercial use of foss components.
Choosing an open source software license for your development. Various licenses and comments about them gnu project. The question seems to be whether there is a licensing problem in richfaces because, while much of the code is specifically licensed under lgpl version 2. The apache license does not place any restrictions on software that links to a plugin or library that is distributed under the apache license. Jim jagielski, president and cofounder of the apache software foundation, discusses open source licenses and governance models. The apache software foundation announces annual report for. To apply the apache license to specific files in your work, attach the following boilerplate declaration, with the fields enclosed by brackets replaced with your own identifying information. Berkeley software distribution bsd license or other open source license. Join the openoffice revolution, the free office productivity suite with over 290 million trusted downloads. Open source software oss licensing allows organizations to open up their. If you modify the software, you still have to give back the source code, but you are allowed to link it with proprietary stuff without giving the source code to all of that back.
Source apache projects used in every internetconnected country on the planet. It also contains a patent license and retaliation clause which is designed to prevent patents including patent trolls from encumbering the software project. Some of the licenses can be applied only to s and not patents. Open source, and, more specifically, the apache software foundation asf. The following table compares various features of each license and is a general guide to the terms and conditions of each license. It is important to note that there are no files in the richfaces source that individually contain both apache. The apache software license asl is a license scheme for free and opensource computer software foss written by the apache software foundation asf. Apache also hosts official project blogs for those top level projects or incubator. Source code repositories at apache the apache software. Ibms ginni rometty, hps meg whitman, salesforces mark benioff or saps. Unless otherwise noted all files in xml commons are covered under the apache license version 2. Tesseract is an optical character recognition engine for various operating systems. You or your shall mean an individual or legal entity exercising permissions granted by this license. The commercially friendly and permissive apache license v2.
Key differences the difference between the gpl and the lgpl is that with the lgpl, the entire work doesnt have to have the same license. Planet apache is provided to aggregate personal blogs from apache committers. What if i create a competing service but give it away for free. It considers free software permissive license group to be a reference implementation of a free software license. The full license text can also be accessed via the web from the apache licenses page. Appellee planetary motion is a computer software and telecommunications. 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. Apache committers have write access to the repositories for their projects, so they can edit existing code and add new files.
Available as open source software under the apache license which lets you use lucene in both commercial and open source programs 100%pure java implementations in other programming languages available that are indexcompatible. The group open source initiative osi defines and maintains a list of approved opensource licenses. Because of this, we will not refer to the confluent community license or any code released under it as open source. The terms state that users cant remove existing, patent, trademarks and attribution notices. Established in 2002 and comprising of all volunteers, we have a consistent process for how issues are handled, and this process includes how our projects must disclose security issues. The apache license, on the other hand, is favored by the big corporations for their open source projects.
Difference between different types of open sources licenses. These and other answers about the scope of patent grants for contributions under the apache 2. If you want to use a lax, permissive noncopyleft free software license, it is much better to use the modified bsd license, the x11 license or the expat license. You can freely use, modify, distribute and sell a software licensed under the apache license without worrying about the use of software. Products derived from this software may not be called apache, nor may apache appear in their name, without prior written permission of the apache software foundation. This detailed guide gives you an effective open source licenses comparison. The apache software foundation needs more than code.
Xml commons contains some software and documentation that is covered under a number of different licenses. It basically says that anyone can do whatever they want with the licensed material, as long as its accompanied by the license. The asf was formed from the apache group and incorporated on march 25, 1999. Source form shall mean the preferred form for making.
It is free software, released under the apache license. The apache software foundation is a decentralized open source community of developers. The apache license says do whatever you want with this, just dont sue me but does so with many more words, which lawyers like because it adds specificity. The license assures your freedom to remove powered by svg edit in your modified version. This type of activity might be seen as an implied license or worse naked. Asl allows projects and software to be freely downloaded and used, may it be in whole or in part, for personal, company or commercial purposes and without concern for. Im familiar with using code under the dual license of cddl or gpl2. Apache planet syndication of committers blogs apache software. Tldrlegal provides generally good summaries of licenses. In this article, we take a look at the difference between this two licenses. We welcome enquiries from maintainers considering particular licenses, but we. Apache cassandra offers capabilities that relational databases and. A sample of the apache license is available from choose a license, and is. Openoffice is released on windows, linux and macos, with.
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