Bsd License: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the BSD license?
The BSD license is another free software license that was developed by the University of California at Berkeley. It is very non-restrictive in its terms, basically allowing anyone to do anything with code covered by the license, but requiring a reference to the copyright holder in accompanying
documentation -- essentially requiring only credit where credit is due. ...
Source: www.mozilla.org
Why a BSD license?
Its a BSD with no advertising clause which is the most lenient/compatible license we could possibly find. There are several reasons for picking this license: Part of the goals is to turn the project into a JSR which would make a GPL rather problematic, an RI can be GPL but its "difficult" and people usually go the dual license approach which starts getting messy. Simplicity, we don't want to turn programmers into license lawyers. ...
Source: bean-properties.dev.java.net
Why is the original BSD license incompatible with the GPL?
Because it imposes a specific requirement that is not in the GPL; namely, the requirement on advertisements of the program. Section 6 of GPLv2 states:
You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. GPLv3 says something similar in section 10. The advertising clause provides just such a further restriction, and thus is GPL-incompatible. The revised BSD license does not have the advertising clause, which eliminates the problem.
Source: www.fsf.org
Because it imposes a specific requirement that is not in the GPL; namely, the requirement on advertisements of the program. GPLv2 states: You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. GPLv3 states: No other additional conditions [beyond those listed in section 7] are permitted in your terms; therefore, no other conditions can be present on any work that uses this License. The advertising clause provides just such a further restriction, and thus is GPL-incompatible. ...
Source: gplv3.fsf.org
Why don't you use a BSD license?
This entry has been moved .
Source: www.ohse.de
I think it's quite useless. It allows anyone to take the source and close it, keeping the source code of valuable additions for him. I'd rather use a public domain license in these cases where i don't care about that (i already did this). PD is _really_ unencumbered. Note: there is room for negotiations. It's unlikely that i'll change some complete package away from the GPL, but i did change the copyright of smaller entities (from single files to a set of library functions) when the need arose.
Source: www.ohse.de
Why was the BSD license chosen for this software?
Because it's a very unrestrictive license, allowing various uses of the software, as well as (modified) redistribution in both source and/or binary form. Besides that it has a disclaimer and a non-endorsement clause. Requirements
Source: tulp2g.sourceforge.net
Why didn't you just use the BSD license or a slightly amended version of it?
The BSD license, in Netscape's opinion, does not go far enough to ensure that developers will return their modifications to the Communicator source code to the community. The company feels that this is important to ensure long term viability of the source development effort.
Source: www.mozilla.org
Can the Plone Foundation change the license of Plone to (for example) the BSD license?
Yes. The currently released code will always remain GPL, however. If we should ever decide to change the license, for example the BSD or Apache licenses, we would probably have parallel licenses, so you could choose what fits your needs best. Even if we decided to change to BSD from GPL, the GPL version would still be available and be developed.
Source: plone.org
Why do I release FontForge with the BSD license and not GPL?
I just don't like GPL. It's partly predjudice, partly real. I don't like forcing restrictions on people. I'm giving away fontforge, so I do. The BSD license says "Don't sue me, and include my copyright notice if you use my code" and that's all I care about. Perhaps I am naif, but I don't believe that anyone is going to start selling fontforge. Why would they? It makes no sense for someone to try to sell what I give away freely. ...
Source: fontforge.sourceforge.net
Can I make software with ZK open source and release it under the GNU GPL, LGPL, or BSD license?
Yes. The GNU GPL, GPL-compatible licenses, or any other approved open source license will do. The FSF.org and OpenSource.org web sites list approved software licenses (OSI-approved open source licenses). We want OSI-approved open source software applications to be able to use specified GPL-licensed ZK despite that not all OSI-approved open source licenses are compatible with with version 2 of the GNU GPL. Potix grants you the right beyond the GPL as special exception. ...
Source: www.zkoss.org
The Intel Free Distribution Binary License looks like a BSD license. Is it?
It looks a lot like a BSD license. We reused as much language as we could. We believe BSD was a good starting point for a short, easy to understand, permissive license. However, the Intel Free Distribution Binary License is in no way an open source license (see previous question. )
Source: linuxwimax.org
The BSD license does not require put-backs to Sun if changes are made to the code, or if the code is re-used elsewhere. What are Sun's goals?
Sun believes that by contributing Open Web Server's innovations and code to the FOSS community as un-encumbered as possible the entire community benefits. It is certainly preferable for modifications to be contributed back to this project, but it is not a requirement.
Source: wikis.sun.com
Since you objected to the original BSD license's advertising requirement to give credit to the University of California, isn't it hypocritical to demand credit for the GNU project?
It would be hypocritical to make the name GNU/Linux a license requirement, and we don't. We only ask you to give us the credit we deserve.
Source: www.gnu.org
Can I make software with the Qt Open Source Edition and release it under the GNU GPL, BSD, or Artistic license?
Yes. The GNU GPL, GPL-compatible licenses, or any other approved open source license will do. The FSF.org and OpenSource.org web sites list approved software licenses.
Source: doc.trolltech.com
Can I make software with the Qt Free Edition and release it under the GNU GPL, BSD, or Artistic license?
Yes. The GNU GPL, GPL-compatible licenses, or any other approved open source license will do. The FSF.org and OpenSource.org web sites list approved software licenses.
Source: doc.trolltech.com
