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GNU General Public License
Author
Richard Stallman
Latest version
3
Publisher
Free Software Foundation
Published
25 February 1989; 35 years ago (1989-02-25)
SPDX identifier
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-only
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-only
GPL-1.0-or-later
GPL-1.0-only
Debian FSG compatible
Yes[1]
FSF approved
Yes[2]
OSI approved
Yes[3]
Copyleft
Yes[2][4][5]
Linking from code with a different licence
Software licensed under GPL compatible licenses only, depending on the version used.[6]
Website
www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses, or copyleft, that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software.[7] The license was the first copyleft for general use, and was originally written by Richard Stallman, the founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), for the GNU Project. The license grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the Free Software Definition.[8] The licenses in the GPL series are all copyleft licenses, which means that any derivative work must be distributed under the same or equivalent license terms. It is more restrictive than the Lesser General Public License, and even further distinct from the more widely-used permissive software licenses BSD, MIT, and Apache.
Historically, the GPL license family has been one of the most popular software licenses in the free and open-source software (FOSS) domain.[7][9][10][11][12] Prominent free software programs licensed under the GPL include the Linux kernel and the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). David A. Wheeler argues that the copyleft provided by the GPL was crucial to the success of Linux-based systems, giving the programmers who contributed to the kernel the assurance that their work would benefit the whole world and remain free, rather than being exploited by software companies that would not have to give anything back to the community.[13]
In 2007, the third version of the license (GPLv3) was released to address some perceived problems with the second version (GPLv2) which were discovered during the latter's long-time usage.
To keep the license current, the GPL license includes an optional "any later version" clause, allowing users to choose between the original terms or the terms in new versions as updated by the FSF. Software projects licensed with the optional "or later" clause include the GNU Project, while the Linux kernel, for instance, is licensed under GPLv2 only.
The "or any later version" clause is sometimes known as a "lifeboat clause" since it allows combinations between different versions of GPL-licensed software to maintain compatibility.
^"License information". The Debian Project. Software in the Public Interest (published 12 July 2017). 1997–2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017. ... This page presents the opinion of some debian-legal contributors on how certain licenses follow the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). ... Licenses currently found in Debian main include:
...
Expat/MIT-style licenses
...
^ ab"Various Licenses and Comments about Them". The GNU Project. Free Software Foundation (published 4 April 2017). 2014–2017. GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017. ... This is the latest version of the GNU GPL: a free software license, and a copyleft license. ... GPLv3 is not compatible with GPLv2 by itself. However, most software released under GPLv2 allows you to use the terms of later versions of the GPL as well. When this is the case, you can use the code under GPLv3 to make the desired combination. ...
^"Licenses by Name". Open Source Initiative. n.d. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017. ... The following licenses have been approved by the OSI. ...
GNU General Public License version 2 (GPL-2.0)
GNU General Public License version 3 (GPL-3.0)
...
^"Various Licenses and Comments about Them". The GNU Project. Free Software Foundation (published 4 April 2017). 2014–2017. GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017. ... This is the previous version of the GNU GPL: a free software license, and a copyleft license. ... GPLv2 is, by itself, not compatible with GPLv3. However, most software released under GPLv2 allows you to use the terms of later versions of the GPL as well. When this is the case, you can use the code under GPLv3 to make the desired combination. ...
^"GPL FAQ: If a library is released under the GPL (not the LGPL)". GNU Project. Free Software Foundation.
^ abCite error: The named reference blackduck2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"GPL FAQ: Does using the GPL for a program make it GNU Software?". GNU Project. Free Software Foundation.
^Cite error: The named reference redhat2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference freecode2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^"Why the GPL rocketed Linux to success". Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2006. So while the BSDs have lost energy every time a company gets involved, the GPL'ed programs gain every time a company gets involved.
and 27 Related for: GNU General Public License information
The GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses, or copyleft, that guarantee end users the four...
The GNU Lesser GeneralPublicLicense (LGPL) is a free-software license published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The license allows developers...
The GNU Affero GeneralPublicLicense (GNU AGPL) is a free, copyleft license published by the Free Software Foundation in November 2007, and based on the...
by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNUGeneralPublicLicense, giving readers the rights to copy, redistribute...
middle ground between the permissive software BSD-style licenses and the GNUGeneralPublicLicense. So under the terms of the MPL, it allows the integration...
copyleft licenses include the GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GPL), originally written by Richard Stallman, which was the first software copyleft license to see...
business-friendly free software license, and features weaker copyleft provisions than licenses such as the GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GPL). The receiver of EPL-licensed...
batch-oriented language. As part of the GNU Project, it is free software under the terms of the GNUGeneralPublicLicense. The project was conceived around...
the work. Copyleft licenses include several common open-source and free content licenses, such as the GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GPL) and the Creative...
Stallman started the Free Software Foundation and wrote the GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GNU GPL) in 1989. By the early 1990s, many of the programs required...
licensed under the GNU GeneralPublicLicense with special license exceptions permitting its use with proprietary software. The GNU Build System makes it...
software under the GNU General PublicLicense. When the Linux kernel proved to be a viable solution, development of GNU Hurd slowed, at times alternating...
is maintained by developers on the GNU project. It is distributed under the terms of the GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GPL). Early versions of the Hurd were...
and because the runtime libraries are not distributed using the GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GPL), it is not necessary to distribute the source code with...
Inc., Xvid is free software distributed under the terms of the GNUGeneralPublicLicense. This also means that unlike the DivX codec, which is only available...
Collection and GNU Emacs, and wrote all versions of the GNUGeneralPublicLicense. Stallman launched the GNU Project in September 1983 to write a Unix-like computer...
licensed under the GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GPL). Released as free software by Chris Allegretta in 1999, nano became part of the GNU Project in 2001....
compatible with the GNUGeneralPublicLicense and allows linking with files released entirely as proprietary software. The license does require that if...
computer architectures. GAS is free software released under the GNUGeneralPublicLicense v3. The first version of GAS was released in 1986–1987. It was...
are far more often licensed under the GNU Lesser GeneralPublicLicense (LGPL), for example, the GNU C Library, GNU gettext and FLTK. A developer of an...
the GNUGeneralPublicLicense (GNU GPL). GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain and the standard compiler for most projects related to GNU and the...
distributed under copyleft ("share alike") terms, such as with its own GNUGeneralPublicLicense. The FSF was incorporated in Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
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