CHOOSING AN OPEN SOURCE LICENSE

The Apache License is a

permissive license, it

requires preservation of

copyright and disclaimer

notices, however allows

the user freedom with the

software, including an

explicit right to any

patents. The “State

Changes” clause means

that you have to include a

notice in each file that you

have modified.

The MIT License is a free

software license originating

at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology

(MIT). It is a permissive free

software license: basically,

users can do whatever they

wish with the code, as long

as the original copyright and

the license text are included

in the file.

The GNU Lesser General

Public License (LGPL) is a

compromise between

copyleft and permissive

licenses. It allows users to

link to the original LGPL

software without being

required to release the

source code of their

proprietary software. Also,

users may modify and

distribute the software, but

they have to describe the

changes, provide the source

code and release them

under LGPL.

The GNU General Public

License (GPL) is a copyleft

software license, which

guarantees end users the

freedoms to use, study,

share (copy), and modify

the software as long as

they track changes/dates of

in source files and release

their code and any

modifications under GPL.

They can distribute their

application using a GPL

commercially, but they must

open-source it under the

same GPL license.

APACHE 2.0 MIT LGPLv3 GPLv3

What is

the best

license for

your

project?

You’ll need a Permissive

license.

You’ll need a Copyleft license.

How open do you

want your project?

I want to share, but

others should

share too.

I simply want to put

my software out there.

Do you want to enable

commercial adoption?

Sure, but others should

share by opening their

code too.

Yes, my code can be

used in closed source

applications.What about the patents

in your code?

I keep the rights to my

patents in my code.

Anyone can use the

patents in my code.

Read more about some popular OSS licences. www.protecode.com