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What are the best FOSS licenses?
8
Options
Considered
7
User
Recs.
Jun 14, 2022
Last
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8
Options
Considered
Best FOSS licenses
Price
Last Updated
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MIT License
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Oct 8, 2020
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GNU General Public License 3.0
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Jun 14, 2022
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GNU General Public License 2.0
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Nov 4, 2015
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Simplified BSD License
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Jan 21, 2020
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BSD-2-Clause Plus Patent License
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Jan 21, 2020
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MIT License
My Rec
ommendation
for
MIT License
My Recommendation for
MIT License
All
13
Pros
7
Cons
6
Top
Pro
•••
Flexible
Allows distribution, modification, private and commercial use.
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Top
Con
•••
Great for large businesses
Because this is a stale pushover license with minimal restrictions, it's amazing for businesses so they can legally steal code. This is why they pay shills to shit on the GPL so they can encourage users to hand over their hard work.
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Top
Pro
•••
Simple
Only requires preservation of copyright and license notices. The MIT license is one of the shortest licenses of all the major recognized open source licenses. The full text is just 3 paragraphs long.
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Top
Con
•••
Does not protect long-term user freedom
The MIT/Expat license doesn't protect against open-source code being taken (without payment) and used in proprietary software. This is harmful to user freedom because it lets future development be taken out of the public domain and instead moved into non-free programs. In addition, it doesn't protect against software patents being used to attack user freedom. Unlike the Apache 2.0 and GPLv3 licenses, the MIT/Expat was written before software patents became a problem and doesn't include a patent release.
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Top
Pro
•••
GPL2 Compatible
Compatible with the GPL2 License
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Top
Con
•••
Ambiguous name
The MIT License is sometimes known as the Expat License or the X11 License because it has been used with different names in different places.
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Top
Pro
•••
Permissive License
Code can easily be included in other projects
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Top
Con
•••
Does not prevent others from taking and selling your software
The MIT license is permissive enough that anyone can take your code, rebrand it and sell it.
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Top
Pro
•••
Explicitly allows sublicensing
The license specifically mentions that the code can be used in other software that might have a less permissive license.
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Top
Con
•••
No warranty
The software comes with no warranty.
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Top
Pro
•••
Protects the author
The author of the software avoids any risk for how the software may be used by others.
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Top
Con
•••
Liability
The original author is not to be held liable for any claim or damages caused by the software.
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Top
Pro
•••
Prevents lock-in
The license basically allows anyone to do whatever they want with the code as long as the original copyright and license notice is included along with the copy of the code. The code can be used for commercially, privately, it can be modified and it can be distributed.
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2
1
--
GNU General Public License 3.0
My Rec
ommendation
for
GNU General Public License 3.0
My Recommendation for
GNU General Public License 3.0
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here
Recommend
1
--
GNU General Public License 2.0
My Rec
ommendation
for
GNU General Public License 2.0
My Recommendation for
GNU General Public License 2.0
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Get it
here
Recommend
1
--
Simplified BSD License
My Rec
ommendation
for
Simplified BSD License
My Recommendation for
Simplified BSD License
All
5
Pros
4
Cons
1
Top
Pro
•••
Prevents lock-in
The license basically allows anyone to do whatever they want with the code as long as the original copyright and license notice is included along with the copy of the code. The code can be used for commercially, it can be modified and it can be distributed.
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Top
Con
•••
Nothing prevents someone else from making money off of your software
The 2-clause BSD license is permissive enough that anyone can take your code, rebrand it and sell it.
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Top
Pro
•••
Short and simple text
This license has one requirement with 2 clauses, both of whcih are related to the distribution of the license itself.
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Top
Pro
•••
Protects the author
The author of the software avoids any risk for how the software may be used by others.
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Top
Pro
•••
Can be used with proprietary software
BSD licensed software can be used with proprietary software.
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Recommend
1
--
BSD-2-Clause Plus Patent License
My Rec
ommendation
for
BSD-2-Clause Plus Patent License
My Recommendation for
BSD-2-Clause Plus Patent License
All
7
Pros
4
Cons
3
Top
Pro
•••
Protects the author
The author of the software avoids any risk for how the software may be used by others.
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Top
Con
•••
Permissive/ Pushover License
Code can be used in closed source products
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Top
Pro
•••
Simple
Simple to understand and follow
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Top
Con
•••
Liability
The original author is not to be held liable for any claim or damages caused by the software.
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Top
Pro
•••
GPL2 Compatible
Compatible with the GPL2 License
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Top
Con
•••
No warranty
The software comes with no warranty.
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Top
Pro
•••
Permissive License
Code can easily be included in other projects
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Recommend
1
--
GNU Affero General Public License 3.0
My Rec
ommendation
for
GNU Affero General Public License 3.0
My Recommendation for
GNU Affero General Public License 3.0
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Recommend
--
Apache, Version 2.0
My Rec
ommendation
for
Apache, Version 2.0
My Recommendation for
Apache, Version 2.0
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here
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--
GNU General Public License
My Rec
ommendation
for
GNU General Public License
My Recommendation for
GNU General Public License
Hide
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Recommend
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