Gnu affero general public license simple english wikipedia. The gpl license does can not enforce cloud applications, only when the project has been deployed to a users system must a derivative project be opensource. A question about closedsource software with gnu gsl for commercial and freeto. Gpl software can be used anywhere, without restrictions. Hi, afaik, this is a derived work of itextsharp, an agpled library. If the software is calling dynamically linked, gpl licensed libraries, will i need to make the entire project gpl.
Why the gnu affero gpl gnu project free software foundation. For example, if i release some software under a license like gpl, and. Like the gnu general public license, the affero license allows you to use, copy and change the code of software, but requires that you release your changes if you distribute the software or you run a modified copy on a web server on the internet. Jul 18, 2014 there are a lot of misconceptions about the gnu agpl license. We recommend that people consider using the gnu agpl for any. There is a reasonable description at gnu affero general public license wikipedia and the actual license text is available at gnu affero general public license but to make a long story short, you can probably think of it as a version of the gpl3.
Affero gpl with php application and db keys in localsettings. Free software foundation releases gnu affero general. Gnu affero gpl version 3 and the asp loophole submitted by michael tiemann on thu, 20070607 11. The gnu affero general public license version 3 agplv3 is a copyleft license nearly identical to the gplv3. Gnu affero gpl version 3 and the asp loophole open. One of the reasons the gpl has been such a successful free software license is because it. Media in category free software under the agpl the following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. Gnu affero general public license article about gnu affero. If software is licenced under a gpl license, can it be used without restriction in a corporate commercial environment. The gnu affero general public license version 3 agplv3 is a. Describes the ability to use the software for commercial purposes. The first version of the affero general public license agplv1, was published by affero, inc. Dont believe the hype, agpl open source licensing is. See the gnu general public license for more details.
Provision 2 effectively prevents the development of proprietary commercial products that incorporate gpl ghostscript without a commercial license. In fact, the fsf maintainers of the gpl have harsh words for licenses that try to restrict use of the software in any way. The gnu affero general public license is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works, specifically designed to ensure cooperation with the community in the case of network server software. The affero gpl is designed to close the socalled application service provider loophole in the gpl, which lets asps use gpl code without distributing their changes back to. The gnu affero general public license gnu agpl is a modified version of version 3 of the regular gnu gpl. Dont believe the hype, agpl open source licensing is toxic and.
Reading black duck software s newest paean to the affero general public license agpl the quietly accelerating adoption of the agpl, one could be forgiven for thinking agpl is rocking the. Agpl is the abbreviation for gnu affero general public license. Conditions on distributing ghostscript in a commercial context. If you have feedback on this document, or any oss watch activity, please send it to. If the program specifies that a proxy can decide which future. However, not being a lawyer, and actually not having read the whole license, i cant understand what exactly you can do freely and what not with agpl. The licenses were originally written by richard stallman, former head of the free software foundation fsf, for the gnu project, and grant the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software. How to achieve vendor lockin with a legit open source. The agplv3s section states an additional condition not present in gplv2 or gplv3. It also contains a patent license and retaliation clause which is designed to prevent patents including patent trolls from encumbering the software project.
Ohhhh, now i get itthis is an attempt to make modify in the agpl mean something different from modify in the gpl itself, such that you can do things that would be considered modifying in the gpl and hence trigger copyleft and claim they dont constitute modifying for purposes of the extra proviso in the agpl and hence wont trigger copyleft, so you can incorporate agpl code into. The agpl is the closest thing possible to a proprietary software license. Gnu affero gpl version 3 second discussion draft html. Boston, massachusetts, usamonday, november 19, 2007the free software foundation fsf today published the gnu affero general public license version 3 gnu agplv3. Gnu affero general public license gnu project free. The gnu affero general public license is a free, copyleft license for software and other. The second version agplv2 was published in november 2007, as a transitional license to allow an upgrade path from. The gnu affero general public license is a copyleft license for software that is intended to be run on web servers like web applications. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or gpl is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software. If you intend to use the gpl d software strictly within. It makes a licensed piece of code the covered work forever free. This is an incomplete list of software that are licensed under the gnu affero general public. Gnu affero gpl version 3 and the asp loophole open source.
Both licenses have the same copyleft scope, but materially differ in one important way. Gpl software can also be modified without restrictions, as long as the modified software is kept private. Gnu affero general public license article about gnu. The creators of gpl generally imagined that open source software would have a diverse community around it and that the gpl and agpl licenses were a set of rules about how that community interacted with each other and constrain companies working with gpl software to bring their improvements back to the commons. Top 10 gnu gpl license questions answered whitesource. Aug 14, 2007 the gnu general public license permits making a modified version and letting the public access it on a server without ever releasing its source code to the public.
Reading black duck softwares newest paean to the affero general public license agpl the quietly accelerating adoption of the agpl, one could be. The affero general public license affero gpl and informally affero license is a free software license. Using gpllicensed components in proprietary projects. These users are granted the same rights as licensees who receive the software. Gnu affero gpl version 3 first discussion draft html. I have read the gpl faq and i think that this one may apply. What happens if you use agpl software, but deploy it as a different application that your closedsource commercial one. Gnu affero general public license gnu project free software. Free software foundation releases gnu affero general public. This is a spiritual successor to the original affero general public license, which was based on gplv2 and also had an additional provision so that people using the software over a network could get its source. The gnu affero gpl by brett smith free software foundation. Dont believe the hype, agpl open source licensing is toxic. Because web software is often not distributed think of saas, the gpl people came up with an affero clause. The lgpl is basically the same as the gpl, but if i use lgpl software inside my software, my software does not become gpl.
See gnu general public license and free software foundation. There are a lot of misconceptions about the gnu agpl license. Affero gpl article about affero gpl by the free dictionary. Agpl ghostscript is provided under the gnu affero general public license agpl. Affero and gnu affero based on the gnu gpl version 2, version 1 of the affero gpl was published in 2002 by affero, inc. The gnu affero general public license is designed specifically to ensure that, in such cases, the modified source code becomes available to the community. Open source stack exchange is a question and answer site for people organizing, marketing or licensing open source development projects. Gnu affero general public license, you may choose any version ever published. Agpl is a fairly new license that was meant to go gpl overnetworks. Nov 19, 2007 boston, massachusetts, usamonday, november 19, 2007the free software foundation fsf today published the gnu affero general public license version 3 gnu agplv3. The gnu affero gpl does not address the problem of service as a software substitute saass. Developers who wish to address this might want to use the gnu affero gpl for programs designed for network server use.
What licenses exist for free for noncommercial use for software. Gpl is the abbreviation for gnu general public license. It restricts you from using software to build nongpl software including bsdlicensed free software, but it prevents software from being taken private by commercial developers. Agpl ghostscript is provided under the gnu affero general public license agpl, as well as under an artifex commercial license.
The gnu affero general public license is designed specifically to ensure that, in such cases, the modified source. The gnu affero general public license is based on the gnu gpl, but has an additional term to allow users who interact with the licensed software over a network to receive the source for that program. Mongodb and rhodecode what i recall from the top of my head. The affero gpl v3 imposes that all derived works are distributed under the same licence, recursively thus, right now everyone that linked your library without distributing their source code over the internet at least to their own final users is violating the itextpdfs corporate s. The agpl can be regarded as an extension to the gpl. A company is running a modified version of a gpl ed program on a web site. The agpl license differs from the other gnu licenses in that it was built for network. Gnu affero gpl version 3 first discussion draft html gplv3. The choice of licence comes down to personal preference, and both approaches can. Aws, for example, has made orders of magnitude more money from. I again dont so much care about the ethics bsds just fine as i do about the commercial impact. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. The gnu affero general public license is a free, copyleft license published by the free software foundation in november 2007, and based on the gnu general public license, version 3 and the affero general public license the free software foundation has recommended that the gnu agplv3 be considered for any software that will commonly be run over a network. Smith, brett march 29, 2007, gplv3 and software as a service also includes info on version 2 of the affero gpl.
The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed to take away your freedom to share and change the works. Gpl vs agpl forum free accounting software akaunting. Gpl, also known as copyleft, grants permission to reuse or modify the source code to make derivative works, but if you distribute your program to others, it requires you to license your derivative work under the gpl too. Gnu affero gpl version 3 second discussion draft html gplv3. For gpl programs running on your server, you are the user, for agpl, the real users of the app are the users of your website or service. This public license applies to most of afferos software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. Jun 21, 2016 it also contains a patent license and retaliation clause which is designed to prevent patents including patent trolls from encumbering the software project. Agpl is the affero general public license, a variation of the gpl that caters to programs that run on a server. Can i sell an application under the gnu affero general public license gpl.
We recommend that people consider using the gnu agpl for any software which will commonly be run over a network. Licencia gnu affero agpl compatible con gpl software libre. Gpl the gnu general public license the gpl is a copyleft software licence 1 published by the usbased free software foundation. Anyone may modify gpl ghostscript, but the provisions of 1 apply to modified or derived works as well. Free software foundation releases a variation of the gpl that brings its reciprocity obligations to software running as an online service. Apr 17, 2010 the gpl is tactically less free, but strategically more free. A3wasteland is a survival sandbox mission for arma 3 where two teams and independent players fight for survival. Does a commercial enterprise need to buy a commercial licence for. Relationships between the gpl licences and other software are carefully explained in the gpl faq. A while ago, i noted the slow but growing use in private business of gpl version 3. Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail. Natural docs multilanguage source code documentation tool brought to you by. License will continue to apply to the part which is the covered work, but the special requirements of the gnu affero general public license. Qgis is a user friendly open source geographic information system gis licensed under the gnu general public license.
The software that i am refering to is qgis which provides this description. What agpl does on top of gpl is the redefinition of user. Does the gpl say they must release their modified sources. What is the difference between gpl, agpl and lgpl licenses. The agpl makes straightforward commercial sense we use it. Shortly after the release of gpl3, the fsf released affero gpl 3. If a developer modifies a program released under the gpl, he is expected to release the modified program under the same license, but if this program runs on a server only, the developer is not really releasing it to the rest of the world. The gnu general public license permits making a modified version and letting the public access it on a server without ever releasing its source code to the public. Im writing this brief article to try debunking them and explain what this license really is. So, for example, providing the software to an employee within your. This public license applies to most of affero s software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. Projeqtor free project management software explanation. Built in collaboration between got, tpg, kos, 404games, and others. Agpl what you can do and what you cant software engineering.
Both the ordinary gnu gpl, version 3, and the gnu affero gpl have text allowing you to link together modules under these two licenses in one program. Sep 05, 2017 reading black duck software s newest paean to the affero general public license agpl the quietly accelerating adoption of the agpl, one could be forgiven for thinking agpl is rocking the. Then the software performs some calculations based on the instructions in the. Qgis is an official project of the open source geospatial foundation osgeo. May 27, 2016 gpl the gnu general public license the gpl is a copyleft software licence 1 published by the usbased free software foundation. If software is licenced under a gpl license, can it be used without restriction in a corporatecommercial environment. Gnu affero general public license v3 an overview by rowan wilson is licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 4. You should have received a copy of the gnu general public license along with this program. My uncertainty is fed by this post about mongodb which is agpl and even more by the comments below. Mar 31, 2011 the affero gpl is designed to close the socalled application service provider loophole in the gpl, which lets asps use gpl code without distributing their changes back to the open source community. There is an earlier open source license known as the affero general public license that was not published by the free software foundation, which is not addressed in this article.
For example, corresponding source includes interface definition files. By contrast, the affero general public license is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software to make sure the software is free for all its users. In 2007, the gnu affero gpl was published by the free software foundation and was based on gnu gpl version 3. The licenses were originally written by richard stallman, former head of the free software foundation fsf, for the gnu project, and grant the recipients of a. The gpl is tactically less free, but strategically more free. Does a commercial enterprise need to buy a commercial.
Consider for example the libre software lammps, which uses gnu general public license. This page is intended to provide a summary of information that developers and companies may find useful in understanding licensing. The agpl license covers this loophole by stating the code must be accessible by any users that can in any way interact with the code base including website or web services. For more detailed and complete information on the agpl please visit the gnu web site. Jstor july 2017 learn how and when to remove this template message. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. If you downloadreceive a copy of a gpld software, you. The gpl licenses gplv3, gplv2, lgpl, affero gpl all contain some kind of sharealike license.
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