The software included in this product contains ed software that is licensed under the gpl. Using gpl 3rd party code for internal closed source project. For now, gnu gpl is an enforceable contract, says us federal judge the software hippies minds are going to be blown over this one by kieren mccarthy in san francisco may 2017 at 09. Some software companies, however, believe they have found an ambiguity in the interpretation of the affero gpl and believe they have the right to sell technology services like saas platforms and software incorporating the pinnacle 21 software without providing their software. Dont believe the hype, agpl open source licensing is. Financial companies, like banks, that offer online banking and related services could offer the software. This page is maintained by the free software foundations licensing and compliance lab. Jan 16, 2011 the cloud, saas, source code escrow, and the affero gpl when making large deployments of commercial software, it is not uncommon for companies to force the suppliers to place the source code of that software into escrow. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu. The software that i am refering to is qgis which provides this description. Free software foundation releases gnu affero general public. Software licensed under the gnu general public license is free software, and all software that builds on gpllicensed components is also free and must also be licensed under the gpl. A company is running a modified version of a gpled program on a web site.
Agpl is the abbreviation for gnu affero general public license. With the agpl license, a company acting in this way would be obliged to distribute. As the popularity of open source has grown, companies have searched for methods to combine traditional proprietary licensing business models with foss offerings. Gnu affero gpl version 3 and the asp loophole open source. The combined operating systemmost commonly called linuxwas released under the gnu general public license gpl, a licensing model that was created by richard stallman of the gnu project. For now, gnu gpl is an enforceable contract, says us. Media in category free software under the agpl the following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. The following licenses are in use for r or associated software such as packages. The agpl is the closest thing possible to a proprietary software.
Gnu affero general public license v3 an overview by rowan wilson is licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 4. The gpl granted recipients unfettered rights to redistribute software with the condition that the source code could not be kept secret. Does a commercial enterprise need to buy a commercial. Qgis is an official project of the open source geospatial foundation osgeo. Does a commercial enterprise need to buy a commercial licence. For most, the business model likely reached its crescendo when mongodb began using the affero gpl for this purpose. Jan 14, 2010 one recent trend for companies in our situation is to use a license like the affero gpl. Developers who wish to address this might want to use the gnu affero gpl for programs designed for network server use. Reading black duck software s newest paean to the affero general public license.
Affero is the company that developed this gpl variant initially to cover their own web software. A copy of that license is included in this document on page x. The cloud, saas, source code escrow, and the affero gpl. Qgis is a user friendly open source geographic information system gis licensed under the gnu general public license. Previously, the mongodb software was licensed under the gnu affero general public license v. 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. Among other things, were often asking joe about software licensing issues. 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. Preamble 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. An ordinary client project is a project where a software company. A company is running a modified version of a program licensed under the gnu affero gpl agpl on a web site. Dont believe the hype, agpl open source licensing is toxic and. Gnu affero general public license gnu project free software. This would not trigger the sourcecodedistribution requirement.
Free software foundation releases gnu affero general. The emacs general public license, a february 1988 version, a direct predecessor of the gnu gpl. After all, the agpl must be the open source gift that keeps on giving to a company that makes money by first convincing customers that open source is risky and then selling them the way to. What happens if you use agpl software, but deploy it as a different application that your closedsource commercial one. A practical guide to gpl compliance software freedom law center. Google open source guru chris dibona says that the web giant continues to ban the lightningrod agpl open source license within the company because doing so saves engineering. It keeps your code bona fide open source, so people who want to use and extend it noncommercially can do so without worrying about you at all. Consequently, companies who redistribute software packaged for them by an upstream vendor cannot merely pass along the offer they received from the vendor. The specific outcome of proprietary relicensing has spread widely and for stronger copyleft licenses like affero gpl has become the more common usage of the license. The agpl can be regarded as an extension to the gpl. 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. Affero gpl all contain some kind of sharealike license. Apr 17, 2010 the agpl makes straightforward commercial sense we use it for our open source product, flint. New and improved opencore licensing now with affero.
These users are granted the same rights as licensees who receive the software. Agpl mupdf is provided under the gnu affero general public license agpl, as well as under an artifex commercial license. Sep 05, 2017 reading black duck softwares newest paean to the affero general public license. Can i use gpl libraries in a closed source project if only. Free software foundation releases gnu affero general public license version 3 by brett smith contributions published on nov 19, 2007 10.
Would it be violation when you produce an opensource version of a commercial software product without using a single line of source code from the. How to achieve vendor lockin with a legit open source. If that commercial application is what youre selling, then youre giving a copy of that software in exchange for money. This is an incomplete list of software that are licensed under the gnu affero general public license, in alphabetical order. 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. A valuable open source product, a vibrant community, and the right licensing strategy are three keys to the success of a commercial open source software company. You can support our efforts by making a donation to the fsf. The first version of the affero general public license agplv1, was published by affero, inc. We recommend that people consider using the gnu agpl for any software which will commonly be run over a network. Unlike many open source software projects, ghostscript is owned and fully controlled by artifex.
Why the gnu affero gpl gnu project free software foundation. Gpl is the abbreviation for gnu general public license. Opensource software has the very nice property that it becomes effectively immortal while proprietary software. Jul 21, 2017 i assume that youre referring to the affero gpl. Rstudio is available under the gnu affero general public license v3.
What software companies have agpllicensed products. The agpl v3 is an opensource license that guarantees the freedom to share and change the software, and to make sure it remains free software for all its users. The second version agplv2 was published in november 2007, as a transitional license to allow an upgrade path from. For example, if you are using the software on your own company. Dont believe the hype, agpl open source licensing is toxic. If the software is calling dynamically linked, gpl licensed libraries, will i need to make the entire project gpl. A practical guide to gpl compliance software freedom law. Agpl is a fairly new license that was meant to go gpl overnetworks. The gnu affero general public license is designed specifically to ensure that, in such cases, the modified source code becomes available to the community. Unlike many open source software projects, mupdf is owned and fully controlled by artifex. Gnu affero gpl version 3 and the asp loophole submitted by michael tiemann on thu, 20070607 11. Some open source erp software provider also offers hosted version for businesses that have no staff to deal with the technical aspect for installing erp software. 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.
If you want an example of including gpld software as part of a commercial offering, look at os x. It is intended for licensing software that is not conveyed to users but rather accessed through a network. Saass means that users use someone elses web server to do their own computing. The way i see it, gnu is about freeopen software, and the gpl makes it possible for commercial companies to open their code without fear that someone makes a lot more money off. The agpl makes straightforward commercial sense we use it for our open source product, flint. A while ago, i noted the slow but growing use in private business of gpl version 3.
The agpl license differs from the other gnu licenses in that it was built for. Free software foundation releases a variation of the gpl that brings its reciprocity obligations to software running as an online service. Using gpl software to provide saas, therefore, is not considered. I was personally told by large companies at the time late 2000s into early 2010s that theyd listed affero gpl as never allowed here specifically because of shakedowns from mongodb. Gnu affero gpl version 3 and the asp loophole submitted by michael tiemann on thu.
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. If we permitted company a to make a proprietary file, and company b to distribute gplcovered software linked with that file, the effect would be to make a hole in the gpl big enough to drive a truck through. The gnu affero general public license gnu agpl is a modified version of version 3 of the regular gnu gpl. The agpl makes straightforward commercial sense we use it. However, not being a lawyer, and actually not having read the whole license, i cant understand what exactly you can do freely and. Agpl what you can do and what you cant software engineering. Kaufman is senior commercial counsel open source legal team for red hat, inc. Gnu affero gpl version 3 and the asp loophole open. We recommend that people consider using the gnu agpl for any software. The free software foundation has recommended that the gnu agplv3 be considered for any software. There is, however, a notable exception the affero gpl is designed to broaden the applicability of the standard gpl to companies that are using agpllicensed software to distribute a service. They essentially say if you make a derivative work of this, and distribute it to others under certain circumstances, then you have to provide the source code under this license.
Since gpl requires providing access to source code, and agplv3 section is an additional condition specifically added to plug the loophole in saaslike software, does not it imply that agplv3 also requires providing source code access, irrespective of whether it is modified or not. We recently had a discussion about whether to recommend mit, apache, or gpl to one of our nonprofit clients for their open source project. If you have feedback on this document, or any oss watch activity, please send it to. 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 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. Agpl alternatives for commercial software software engineering.
Rstudio also offers a commercial desktop license for rstudio and a commercial. Can gpl licenced software be used in corporate environments. What agpl does on top of gpl is the redefinition of user. The affero general public license, a new variation of the seminal gpl, is now final. Nov 20, 2007 affero gpl made for software as a service. The gnu affero general public license is a free, copyleft license for software. Gplv3 gnu general public license, version 3 agplv3 affero gpl, version 3. Can gnu licensed software be used for commercial gain. If software is licenced under a gpl license, can it be used without restriction in a corporate commercial environment.
Understanding mongodbs new copyleft open source license. The affero gpl was designed as the aspkiller, unlike the gpl which requires you to give back any additions or changes you have made only if you distribute your software to others, the affero gpl compels you to give back any modifications to a piece of. 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. Toward copyleft equality for all software freedom conservancy. Nov 19, 2007 free software foundation releases gnu affero general public license version 3 by brett smith contributions published on nov 19, 2007 10.
Some versions of ghostscript are distributed freely under the name gpl ghostscript or for older versions gnu ghostscript. Its built with and comes with an awful lot of gpld software. I have read the gpl faq and i think that this one may apply. Aug 26, 2008 these options are not available to businesses distributing gpld software. You may have already heard of this open source license, but if not, here are a few things every saas company needs to know about the afferro gpl or. For gpl programs running on your server, you are the user, for agpl, the real users of the app. Way back in the last century, the socalled application service provider asp loophole was known in theory.
The cloud, saas, source code escrow, and the affero gpl when making large deployments of commercial software, it is not uncommon for companies to force the suppliers to place the source code of that software. A company is running a modified version of a gpl ed program on a web site. Strong copyleft licenses, among other things, require that the source code for the licensed software including any modifications be made available to the public, typically when the software. In a sense because gpl had this loophole, while it was not easy for commercial companies to engage in gpl projects when a company tweaked the gpl software for their own production use, it was possible for a diverse group of commercial companies to engage constructively in gpl projects. Sep 23, 2018 the open source solutions of erp software mostly are webbased so you need a decent server to install your selected software. 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. The affero general public license affero gpl and informally affero license is a free software license. Conditions on distributing ghostscript in a commercial context. Its not surprising that companies would choose the agpl to control their code. Projeqtor free project management software explanation. There are many companies that make money by providing services and support for an opensource project. Fsf releases agpl license for web services slashdot. Jun 21, 2016 this is a guest post from exygys long time counsel joseph morris. If you have further questions regarding the development and control of ghostscript, please contact miles jones, presidentceo artifex software.
Shortly after the release of gpl3, the fsf released affero gpl 3. While we had known that many commercial users of free software. 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. Does the gpl say they must release their modified sources. Affero ltd free company information from companies house including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity. Describes the ability to use the software for commercial purposes.
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