

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

Could someone roughly explain the differences between the common open source licenses out there (Apache, GPL, MIT, etc.) and any restrictions they may have?<p>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.<p>What is the most open and unrestricted license? What licenses have restrictions I should be aware of? etc. etc. Thanks
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mindcrime
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>

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dpearce
Great answer, thanks.

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skram
You might also want to check out
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_software_lic...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_software_licenses)

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

