Software Licensing

University of Palestine Eng. Wisam Zaqoot March 2010

ITSS 4201 Internet Insurance and ITSS 4201 Internet Insurance and Information HidingInformation Hiding

License

License: A special permission to do something on, or with, somebody else's property that would otherwise be illegal.

Free, Open Source and Copyleft are NOT legally defined

Overview

History of software and licenses Categories of licenses Software Foundations Popular licenses Comparison of licenses Working around licenses History of Unix Case Study: SCO vs. Linux

History of software

Until early 1970’s

Sharing of source code was the accepted norm. No concerted effort to keep software free.

Software was developed by the user community.

History of software (contd.) In the late 1970s and early 1980s, companies began

routinely imposing restrictions on programmers through copyright.

Motivated by financial gains by selling rights of use rather than giving the code.

Bill Gates signaled the change of the times in 1976 when he wrote his now-famous Open Letter to Hobbyists. Wrote Altair BASIC for MITS. dismayed at the rampant copyright infringement taking place in

the hobbyist community Signaled that there was little incentive in making software

available for free. ”Who can afford to do professional work for nothing? “

History of software (contd.)

Richard Stallman from MIT

GNU Project was established in 1983 to write a complete operating system free from constraints on use of its source code. disagreement between Stallman and Symbolics, Inc.

over Stallman's access to changes Symbolics had made to a program he wrote.

History of software (contd.)

During the time 1975-1995 Microsoft continued to churn out proprietary software products and increased its revenue.

OS/2 in 1985 Windows in 1986 IPO in 1987 Office in 1989

Windows 3.0 1990

History of software (contd.)

Linux 1991Linus Torvalds in Finland developed LinuxHe was not satisfied with Minix Released freely modifiable source code in

1991Relicensed under GNU GPL in 1992

History of software (contd.)

•“Open source” initiated by Eric Raymond.•Put Stallmans radical ideas into less intimidating form•Emphazise business potential of sharing code•Get different fragmented free software groups together

•Netscape •Netscape Communicator released it’s codebase under NPL.

•Internet Revolution•Apache HTTP Server•PHP•MySQL•LAMP systems

Birth of “OpenSource” - 1998

In briefProprietaryOpen

•Pros•Greater commercial value•Leads to more funds for research•Better support

•Ability to modify code•Ability to re-distribute•No vendor lock•Democracy!•Cheaper?

•Cons•Vendor Lock In•Anti Trust•Security Issues•Expensive•Restrictive use

•No guarantee of further dev.•IP issues•Support and servicing?•Difficult to monetize

Categories of software Free software

Anyone to use, copy, and distribute, either verbatim or with modifications, either for free or for a fee.

Free software is a matter of freedom, not price.

Open source More or less same as Free software They may accept some more restrictive licenses

Copy left software To copyleft a program, it has first to be copyrighted Distribution terms ensure that all copies of all versions are free

software The program is made free and all modified and extended versions of

the program must be free software as well Generally no modifications can be made to the license

Free software vs. Copy left software: If a program is free but not copylefted,

then some copies or modified versions may not be free at all. A software company can compile the free program, with or without modifications, and distribute the executable file as a proprietary software product.

Copylefted software can’t turned into a proprietary software.

Categories of software

Categories of licenses(cont.)

Non free software SemiFree software permission for individuals to use, copy, distribute, and

modify (including distribution of modified versions) for non-profit purposes

Proprietory software use, redistribution or modification is prohibited, or requires

you to ask for permission, or is restricted so much that you effectively can't do it freely

Freeware commonly used for packages which permit redistribution but

not modification (and their source code is not available) Shareware

software which comes with permission for people to redistribute copies, but says that anyone who continues to use a copy is required to pay a license fee

Categories of licenses(cont.)

Private software custom software is software developed for one user

(typically an organization or company).

Commercial software developed by a business which aims to make money

from the use of the software Can be open source software eg some software from

RedHat, Novell or IBM Can be proprietary software e.g Microsoft

Free Software – according to Free Software Foundation (FSF)

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

1. The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0). 2. The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to

your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

3. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).

4. The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms.

Free Software – according to Free Software Foundation (FSF)

regardless of how you got your copies, you always have the freedom to copy and change the software, even to sell copies. ``Free software'' does not mean ``non-commercial''.

Open Source Definition - according to Open

Source Initiative (OSI)

1. Free Redistribution 2. Source Code 3. Derived Works 4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code (May require

derived works to carry different name or version)5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor7. Distribution of License8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product9. The License Must Not Restrict Other Software10. The License must be technology-neutral

Free vs Open Source

FSF: “The fundamental difference between the two movements is in their values, their ways of looking at the world. For the Open Source movement, the issue of whether software should be open source is a practical question, not an ethical one. As one person put it, ``Open source is a development methodology; free software is a social movement.'' For the Open Source movement, non-free software is a suboptimal solution. For the Free Software movement, non-free software is a social problem and free software is the solution. ”

Free vs Open Source

FSF: “ However, the obvious meaning for the expression ‘open source software’ is ‘You can look at the source code.’ This is a much weaker criterion than free software”.

FSF: “"Free software" and "open source" describe the same category of software, more or less …” “The term ``open source'' software is used by some people to mean more or less the same thing as free software. However, their criteria are somewhat less strict; they have accepted some kinds of license restrictions that we have rejected as unacceptable.”

Free vs Open Source

FSF:Free software

Open source software

Public domain

XFree86 style

Copylefted

GPL’ed

• Free Software Foundation (FSF): Led by Richard Stallman Principle sponsor of GNU project Goal: to advance software freedom Sister organizations in Europe, Latin America, India

• Licenses Available:

• GNU GPL (General Public License )• Strong copyleft

• GNU LGPL (Lesser Public License )• No copy left on linking libraries

• GNU AGPL• Covers scenario of software run over a network

Free Software Licenses:

Open Source Licenses:OSI-approved:- Academic Free License - Apache Software License - Apple Public Source License - Artistic license - BSD license - GNU GPL - GNU LGPL - IBM Public License - Intel Open Source License - MIT license - Sun Public License

If you distribute your software under one of these licenses, you are permitted to say that your software is "OSI Certified Open Source Software."

Open Source Software

Open Source software development 

websites:SourceForge.net ****

freshmeat.net

OSDir.com

berliOS.com

Free vs Copylefted

Copyleft takes away the freedom to turn the software into a proprietary (i.e. non-free)

software .For example :

GNU GPL requires the user pass on his/her rights (to copy the software, change it, and/or access the source code), unimpaired, to other users.

This means that there will be the same restriction on any software that is derived in any way from a GPL’ed program

Overview of some licenses

Permissive

GPL LGPL MPL

X11/MIT

Apache

BSD

Strong Copyleft

Permissive licenses

Restrictive

Weak Copyleft

BSD license

no restriction on derivative work allows binary-only distribution

Aladdin Free Public license

GPL + restrictions: Can’t accept money for the program

except for cost of disks and copying Can’t put it on a disk with any paid-for

software

Mozilla Public License (MPL)Divides software into:

1. Open Source part

2. anything added by userThings added by user can be proprietary or

Open Source

ICS269: Computer LawSpring 2008

DisclaimerThe information in this presentation has been posted for our own use. We are not attorneys. This information in no way constitutes legal advice. You should read the licenses yourself before making any decisions.