All packages produced by the asf are implicitly licensed under the apache license, version 2. You must also not use any of the apache marks like the multicolored feather anywhere in your product or its documentation. Why you should use a bsd style license for your open. The text should be enclosed in the appropriate comment syntax for the file format. Making sense of software licensing articles and howtos. Id like to customize some of the confluent community software. If a whole software package contains very little codeless than 300 lines is the benchmark we useyou may as well use a lax permissive license for it, rather than a copyleft license like the gnu gpl. Its a popular and widely deployed license backed by a strong community. Any license that provides the user certain specific freedoms is a free software license. Describes the allowance of using contributors names. If you receive software under an open source license, you can always use that software for commercial purposes, but. If you are an asf pmc with a truly exceptional situation, please create a jira issue.
However, you must not name your product in a way that it looks like. If by saying monetized app you mean an app id like to sell, i. However, while doing so, youre required to follow the terms of the. Software can become incompatible with secondary licenses in one of two ways. It basically says that anyone can do whatever they want with the licensed material, as long as its accompanied by the license. Can i use an open source library licensed under apache license. Youre free to use it whenever, and wherever you like, including at work. It is descriptive guidance, and does not supplant or otherwise modify any of the terms within the. It allows users to use the software for any purpose.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files the software, to deal in the software without restriction, including wit. The apache license allows you to freely use, modify, and distribute any apache licensed product. Can you use software under mit licence for commercial use. We welcome enquiries from maintainers considering particular licenses, but we.
Since you dont need the developers permission for such use, you can do it regardless of what the developers said about itin the license or elsewhere, whether that license be the gnu gpl or any other free software license. It is descriptive guidance, and does not supplant or otherwise modify any of the terms within the license itself. The first states the software can be used regardless of software. Compliance costs and the apache license the apache openoffice compliance advantages as you probably already know, you dont own software in the same way you own a chair or a desk. However, you must not name your product in a way that it looks like an endorsement from apache. Nov 24, 2015 the license must appear in every copy or substantial portions of the software but nobody can hold you liable if any issues arise from using the software. All open source software can be used for commercial purpose. Understanding licenses, or, can i use this asset in my game. As a result, developers who use or distribute open source applications under the gpl can use the gpllicensed mysql software, and oems, isvs and vars that do not want to combine or distribute the mysql software with their. You must also not use any of the apache marks like the multicolored. The terms state that users cant remove existing, patent, trademarks and attribution notices. Jun 21, 2016 most surveys indicate that the vast majority of open source projects use the mit license, the apache license, and the gpl or their variants.
If you provide commercial support and would like your company to be listed, please send us an email, and we will work with you to do so. Pycharm community edition and professional edition. An apache product is a body of software being developed by the asf that the asf intends to both alter and to publish as a separate line of releases. The asf and its projects release their software products under the apache license. The initial developer hereby grants you a worldwide, royaltyfree, nonexclusive license, subject to third party intellectual property claims.
Can i omit the preamble of the gpl, or the instructions for how to use it on your own programs. Commercial software is any software or program that is designed and developed for licensing or sale to end users or that serves a commercial purpose. Apache licensing and distribution faq apache software. Subject to the terms and conditions of this license, each contributor hereby grants to you a perpetual, worldwide, nonexclusive, nocharge, royaltyfree, irrevocable except as stated in this section patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the work, where such license applies only to those. Can i use a apache v2 licensed driver for a commercial.
Can i use a apache v2 licensed driver for a commercial project. The resolution of this file is 2000x811px and its file size is. I found a different question on stack overflow, and one of the comments mentions. More information and a copy of the license can be found here. Can asf pmcs host projects that are not under the apache license. The wtfpl is a license that was created as an alternative to other software licenses. Stallman devised an alternative to the commercial software license and called it the gpl, or gnu public license. If you are a commercial software developer that depends on selling your own. Top 10 apache license questions answered whitesource. The confluent community license is not a noncommercial license restriction. If you were wondering whether you can use apache licensed code in.
To apply the apache license to your work, attach the following boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets replaced with your own identifying information. If you were wondering whether you can use apache licensed code in your commercial applications and what do you need to do in order to comply with the license heres the unofficial simple ans short answer. Most of these opinions were formed in discussions on the debianlegal mailing list in response to questions from potential package maintainers or licensors. Describes the warranty and if the software license owner can be. Instead, you license the software from the publisher. Commercial software was once considered to be proprietary software, but now a number of free and opensource software applications are licensed or sold to end users. The lgpl on the other hand has the requirement that either the lgpl library links dynamically and can be replaced by a user or the entire work must be released under a gplcompatible opensource license. The mpl fills a useful space in the spectrum of free and open source software licenses, sitting between the apache license, which does not require modifications to be shared, and the gnu family of licenses, which requires modifications to be shared under a much broader set of circumstances than the mpl. You can t take a gpled product and claim over it all or change its licensing conditions i. Why should i use the gnu gpl rather than other free software licenses. Open source licenses grant permission for anybody to use, modify, and share licensed software for any purpose, subject to conditions preserving the provenance and openness of the software.
A short guide to open source licenses smashing magazine. If you have some code you are thinking of releasing under an open source license, and you want a quick overview of the broadstrokes differences between these licenses, you have come to the right place. He also started a nonprofit foundation, the free software foundation fsf, which intended to develop an entire operating system, including all associated software, that would not be subject to proprietary licensing. This page presents the opinion of some debianlegal contributors on how certain licenses follow the debian free software guidelines dfsg. Frequently answered questions open source initiative. Fair use is use that is allowed without any special permission. I am trying to use rabbitmq in commercial applications, which is licensed under mozilla public licensempl. You can even sell open source software however, note that commercial is not the same as proprietary.
Oracle makes its mysql database server and mysql client libraries available under both the gpl and a commercial license. The apache license is a permissive free software license written by the apache software foundation asf. If the software is proprietary or closedsource, there will usually be significant restrictions in the license that limit the ways you can use the software. The apache license is a permissive open source software license so you can release your modified version of the apache licensed product under any license of your choice. Oems, isvs, vars and other distributors that combine and distribute commercially licensed software with mysql software and do not wish to distribute the source code for the commercially licensed software under version 2 of the gnu general public license the gpl must enter into a commercial license agreement with sun. The combined text replaces the existing license, allowing all permissions of the original license to remain.
Most surveys indicate that the vast majority of open source projects use the mit license, the apache license, and the gpl or their variants. Jan 24, 2019 the apache license is an open source software license released by the apache software foundation asf. Can gnu licensed software be used for commercial gain. Mar 24, 2010 the mit license is the least restrictive license out there. Can open source software be used for commercial purposes. It only prevents one narrow kind of excluded purpose, which is using our software in a competing saas offering. It allows users to use the software for any purpose, to distribute it, to modify it, and to distribute modified versions of the software under the terms of the license, without concern for royalties.
The apache license is an open source software license released by the apache software foundation asf. You cant take a gpled product and claim over it all or change its licensing conditions i. The commons clause is a license condition drafted by heather meeker that applies a narrow, minimalform commercial restriction on top of an existing open source license to transition the project to a sourceavailability licensing scheme. However be aware that if you or the company ever make changes to the software and want to distribute it, it must be distributed with full source code, on the same license terms as the original software. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu. As a result, developers who use or distribute open source applications under the gpl can use the gpllicensed mysql software, and oems, isvs and vars that do not want to combine or distribute the mysql software with their own commercial software under a gpl license can purchase a commercial license. Describes the warranty and if the softwarelicense owner can be charged for damages. The excluded purpose does not restrict the creation of modifications. Software licensed with any gnu license can be used and even modified everywhere, including in a corporate environment, without any restrictions. Describes the ability to use the software for commercial purposes. The apache license does not place any restrictions on software that links to a plugin or library that is distributed under the apache license.
Companies providing support for apache guacamole are not endorsed by the apache software foundation, though some such companies do employ committers of the apache guacamole project. The following licenses are sorted by the number of conditions, from most gnu agplv3 to none unlicense. Can gnu licensed software be used for commercial gain without. Compliance costs and the apache license software license compliance costs the software industry watchdog, the business software alliance, offers cash rewards to disgruntled employees who confidentially turn in their employer or exemployer for software piracy. Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the open source definition in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. Overview blog components download getting started faq community code of conduct support contributing user stories articles books team about acknowledgments apache events. You can freely use, modify, distribute and sell a software licensed under the apache license without worrying about the use of software. The community edition of pycharm is apache 2 licensed. The section choosing a license at the civic commons wiki may be useful, and you can learn more about open source licenses from, section 3. To my understanding, if i modify the library, i need to give the source of the library with the changes highlighted.
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