GPL3 likely to include Apache compatibility

Stephen Withers
Friday, 11 May 2007 04:40

Business IT - Technology

The final version of the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) version 3 should be compatible with the Apache Licence, according to Free Software Foundation executive director Peter Brown.

Such compatibility was expected in - though ultimately omitted from - the most recent draft of GPLv3.

However, compatibility between the two licences will not make them interchangeable, as they have different objectives. A key goal of the GPL is to ensure that free software remains free in the sense of Richard Stallman's four freedoms (freedom to run the program for any purpose, to study and change the source code, to distribute to others, and to distribute modified versions). So once code has been released under the GPL, any derivatives inherit that 'GPLness'.

The Apache Licence, on the other hand, is designed to support collaborative development and permits the use of the code in software that is not open sourced. The licence explicitly allows modifications to be released under different terms.

This means that if the licences are otherwise brought into line - the stumbling block seems to be connected with patent indemnities - it will be possible for a GPL program to incorporate Apache Licensed software, but not vice versa.

Any comments suggesting this is somehow unfair are misplaced. Developers are free to choose the terms under which they release their work, and will pick GPL, Apache or some other licence according to what they are trying to achieve. Those who consider it important that their software remains free may use the GPL, while those who are happy for their work to be used in a commercial product may adopt the Apache Licence. It's really no-one else's business which they choose, and we should all be glad that people do make their work available to the community without charge.