Software Licenses

• GPL
  • My default choice.
  • All derivatives must also have the same license! Prevents blatant theft of your work.
• MIT & BSD & ISC
  • Go crazy; no rules
• Apache 2
  • Use the code commercially: Companies can include the licensed code in proprietary software that they then sell to customers.
  • Alter the code: Developers are permitted to make modifications to the original code.
  • Distribute any copies or modifications of the code: An individual or organization is allowed to copy and/or update the code, then make that version available to others (even commercially).
  • Sublicense the code: A company can distribute their reworked version of the code under a stronger license.
  • Use patent claims: Under the terms of the Apache License 2.0, contributors to the code explicitly grant patent rights to users (although experts believe that the language of other permissive licenses also grants such rights).
  • Place warranty: Users of the open source code can place a warranty on the licensed software.