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href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/ToS" title="Rules for posting content on this site">Terms of Service</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="center"><div id="squeeze"><div class="right-corner"><div class="left-corner"> <h2 class="element-invisible">You are here</h2><div class="breadcrumb"><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/">Home</a></div> <a id="main-content"></a> <div id="tabs-wrapper" class="clearfix"> <h1 class="with-tabs">Open Source Licenses</h1> </div> <div class="clearfix"> <div class="region region-content"> <div id="block-system-main" class="block block-system clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div id="node-27" class="node node-page"> <div class="content clearfix"> <img style="float: right; margin: 1em;" width="100" height="137" alt="[OSI Approved License]" src="/web/20130115194941im_/http://opensource.org/trademarks/opensource/OSI-Approved-License-100x137.png"/> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><h2>About Open Source Licenses</h2> <p>Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the <a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/osd">Open Source Definition</a> — in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. To be approved by the Open Source Initiative (also known as the OSI), a license must be go through the <a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/approval">Open Source Initiative's license review process</a>.</p> <h2>Popular Licenses</h2> <p>The following OSI-approved licenses are popular, widely used, or have strong communities (as defined in the <a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/proliferation">2006 Proliferation Report</a>):</p> <ul><li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0">Apache License 2.0</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause">BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" license</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-2-Clause">BSD 2-Clause "Simplified" or "FreeBSD" license</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license">GNU General Public License (GPL)</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-license">GNU Library or "Lesser" General Public License (LGPL)</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT">MIT license</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/MPL-2.0">Mozilla Public License 2.0</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/CDDL-1.0">Common Development and Distribution License</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/EPL-1.0">Eclipse Public License</a></li> </ul><h2>Other Approved Licenses</h2> <p>Many other licenses are also OSI-approved, but fall into other categories, such as special-purpose licenses, superseded licenses, or retired licenses. Complete lists that include all approved licenses are available:</p> <ul><li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical">sorted by name (alphabetical)</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/licenses/category">sorted by category</a></li> </ul><h2>Questions?</h2> <p>The OSI maintains <a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/faq">a FAQ</a>, which includes a lot of useful background on open source licensing, including:</p> <ul><li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/faq#commercial">Can Open Source software be used for commercial purposes?</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/faq#free-software">What is "free software" and is it the same as "open source"?</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/faq#copyleft">What is "copyleft"? Is it the same as "open source"?</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/faq#permissive">What is a "permissive" Open Source license?</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/faq#approved-licenses-only">Is <em><SOME PROGRAM></em> Open Source?</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/faq#avoid-unapproved-licenses">Can I call my program "Open Source" even if I don't use an approved license?</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/faq#unlisted-licenses">Is <em><SOME LICENSE></em> an Open Source license, even if it is not listed on your web site?</a></li> </ul><p>For more information about open source licenses and in particular about the Open Source Initiative's approval process, see:</p> <ul><li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/osd-annotated">The Open Source Definition (annotated version)</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/approval">The OSI License Review Process</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/proliferation">Information on License Proliferation and the 2006 License Proliferation Report</a></li> </ul></div></div></div> </div> <div class="clearfix"> <div class="links"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="region region-footer"> <div id="block-block-11" class="block block-block clearfix"> <div class="content"> <a rel="license" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130115194941/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width: 0" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130115194941im_/http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/3.0/88x31.png"/></a><br/>Opensource.org site content is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130115194941/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License</a>.  | <a href="/web/20130115194941/http://opensource.org/ToS">Terms of Service</a> </div> </div> <div id="block-block-7" class="block block-block clearfix"> <div class="content"> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130115194941js_/http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script><script type="text/javascript"> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></div></div>  </div>  </div>  </body> </html>