License

License Reference
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Software License Name

Short name Full name Description
GNU GPLv3 GNU General Public License v3.0 The GNU GPLv3 also lets people do almost anything they want with your project, EXCEPT distributing closed source versions.
MIT License - The MIT License is short and to the point. It lets people do almost anything they want with your project, like making and distributing closed source versions.
Apache License 2.0 - A permissive license whose main conditions require preservation of copyright and license notices. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.
ISC License - A permissive license lets people do anything with your code with proper attribution and without warranty.
GNU GPLv2 GNU General Public License v2.0 The GNU GPL is the most widely used free software license and has a strong copyleft requirement. When distributing derived works, the source code of the work must be made available under the same license. There are multiple variants of the GNU GPL, each with different requirements.
GNU LGPLv3 GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 Permissions of this copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications under the same license or the GNU GPLv3. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. However, a larger work using the licensed work through interfaces provided by the licensed work may be distributed under different terms and without source code for the larger work.

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Permissions

Permissions GNU GPLv3 MIT Apache v2 ISC GNU GPLv2 GNU LGPLv3
Commercial use ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Distribution ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Modification ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Patent use ✓ ✓ ✓
Private use ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Conditions

Conditions GNU GPLv3 MIT Apache v2 ISC GNU GPLv2 GNU LGPLv3
Disclose source ✓ ✓ ✓
License and copyright notice ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Same license ✓ ✓ ✓
State changes ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Limitations

Limitations GNU GPLv3 MIT Apache v2 ISC GNU GPLv2 GNU LGPLv3
Liability X X X X X X
Warranty X X X X X X
Trademark use X

Non-Software Licenses Name

Note that Creative Commons DOES NOT recommend its licenses be used for software or hardware.

Short name Full name Description
CC0 Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal Use CC0 to opt out of copyright entirely and ensure your work has the widest reach. As with the Unlicense and typical software licenses, CC0 disclaims warranties. CC0 is very similar to the Unlicense.
CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Permits almost any use subject to providing credit and license notice. Frequently used for media assets and educational materials. The most common license for Open Access scientific publications. NOT recommended for software.
CC-BY-SA-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International Similar to CC-BY-4.0 but requires derivatives be distributed under the same or a similar, compatible license. Frequently used for media assets and educational materials. A previous version is the default license for Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. NOT recommended for software.

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Permissions

Permissions CC0 CC-BY-4.0 CC-BY-SA-4.0
Commercial use ✓ ✓ ✓
Distribution ✓ ✓ ✓
Modification ✓ ✓ ✓
Private use ✓ ✓ ✓

Conditions

Conditions CC0 CC-BY-4.0 CC-BY-SA-4.0
License and copyright notice ✓ ✓
State changes ✓ ✓
Same license ✓

Limitations

Limitations CC0 CC-BY-4.0 CC-BY-SA-4.0
Liability X X X
Patent use X X X
Trademark use X X X
Warranty X X X

Reference

Software Licenses

Non-Software Licenses