Ask HN: Can someone explain the common open source licenses?

2 points by dpearce 13 years ago | 4 comments

Could someone roughly explain the differences between the common open source licenses out there (Apache, GPL, MIT, etc.) and any restrictions they may have?

I'm not working on any specific project that would require professional legal advice. I just want a basic understanding of the differences between the most common licenses and how they can generally affect or restrict projects.

What is the most open and unrestricted license? What licenses have restrictions I should be aware of? etc. etc. Thanks

mindcrime 13 years ago |

It would take quite a bit of writing to do all of that. And there are some significant subtleties in terms of the differences between seemingly similar licenses.

What I'd recommend, is that you read the book Open Source Licensing[1] and / or the book Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing[2]. Both are freely available online.

[1]: http://www.rosenlaw.com/oslbook.htm

[2]: http://oreilly.com/openbook/osfreesoft/book/index.html

dpearce 13 years ago | |

Great answer, thanks.

skram 13 years ago |

You might also want to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_software_lic...

AjJi 13 years ago |

Check out http://www.tldrlegal.com/ (Lookup software licenses summarized & explained in plain English.)