GNU General Public License
From ArtSoftware
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely-used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. The latest version of the license, version 2, was released in 1991. The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is a modified version of the GPL, intended for some software libraries.
The GPL grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software definition and uses copyleft to ensure the freedoms are preserved, even when the work is changed or added to.
By some measures, the GPL is the single most popular license for free and open source software. As of January 2006, the GPL accounted for nearly 66% of the 41,962 free software projects listed on Freshmeat, and as of January 2006, about 68% of the projects listed on SourceForge. (These sites are owned by the Open Source Technology Group, a company that advocates Linux and the GPL.) Similarly, a 2001 survey of Red Hat Linux 7.1 found that 50% of the source code was licensed under the GPL, and 1997 survey of MetaLab, then the largest free-software archive, showed that the GPL accounted for about half of the licenses used. Prominent free software programs licensed under the GPL include the Linux kernel and the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). Some other free software programs are dual-licensed under multiple licenses, often with one of the licenses being the GPL.
External links
Official webpages
- GNU General Public License v2.0
- GNU General Public License v1.0 - This version is deprecated
- GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1
- Frequently Asked Questions about the GPL
Other webpages
- Summary of the GPL v2.0 from the Creative Commons
- GPLMedicine.org an advocacy site for the GPL in health-related software
- History of the GPL
- Groklaw: The GPL is a license, not a contract
- The German GPL Order - Translated
- Groklaw: FSF Moves to Dismiss Wallace and for Stay on Filing Briefs on Summary Judgment Motion, June 22 2005
- Enforcing the GNU GPL by Eben Moglen, September 10 2001
- IBM's motion containing case law backing legitimacy and legality of the GPL
- Groklaw GPL References
- GNU General Public License and Commentaries - Edited by Robert Chassell.
- Make Your Open Source Software GPL-Compatible. Or Else. (David A. Wheeler, 7 April 2004) — why a GPL-compatible license is important to the health of a project
- "Toward True Open Source" - an article about why the GPL is allegedly too restrictive
- Patent risks of open source software - explains the patent license grant in the GPL
- "Ballmer: 'Linux is a cancer'" by Thomas C Greene, The Register, June 2 2001
- NOVELL: The GPL: Understanding the License that Governs Linux - This article explains one view of the GPL in easy terms, talks about static vs. dynamic linking and the GPL, and discusses why companies like Microsoft may "fear" the license.
- SOFTPANORAMA: Labyrinth of Software Freedom - Nikolai Bezroukov's e-book about BSD, GPL and social aspects of free licensing
- Viral Contracts or Unenforceable Documents? Contractual Validity of Copyleft Licenses - Article looking at the GPL from an European perspective.
- GPL-Violations.org - website monitoring the net for GPL violations
- Can Technical Tricks Circumvent the GPL?, by Richard Stallman
- 10 common misunderstandings about the GPL by Bruce Byfield in the IT Manager's Journal
- GPL, BSD, and NetBSD - why the GPL rocketed Linux to success by David A. Wheeler
