Questions tagged [bsd]
The license-specific tag for the BSD family of permissive open-source licenses. Use on questions about them; their origins, use, and design.
29
questions
35
votes
7answers
13k views
Can I take BSD licensed code and distribute it under GPL?
Or in more general terms: Can I take code which is licensed under a permissive open source license (like the BSD license) and distribute it under a copyleft free software license (like the GPL)?
...
5
votes
1answer
3k views
BSD 3-Clause: where to place license for binary installation?
We want to publish a project that does use some components under BSD-3-Clause license according to below:
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list ...
176
votes
3answers
90k views
What are the essential differences between the BSD and MIT licences?
There are many articles out there which cover the topic in length and breadth, but so far I haven't found a nice, concise answer to the question.
What are the most important differences between the ...
26
votes
4answers
3k views
If I include some GPL code in my project, can I release it as BSD?
I have scientific software that I would like to release under the BSD 3-clause licence, but it includes some old code that was released under GPL.
Can I still package it all and release as BSD?
15
votes
2answers
6k views
How is the BSD GPL-compatible?
The BSD license says that derivative works may be distributed under the following conditions:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted ...
13
votes
1answer
3k views
How to licence a project which includes MIT, BSD, Modified BSD, and New BSD libraries
I've been working on a project for a while, and I'm almost ready to release it, but I've been more concerned with getting it to build than legal considerations, and now I'm not at all sure where I ...
12
votes
2answers
3k views
Can I license Python project under 3-clause BSD while it has GPL-based dependencies
I'm working on an open source Python project and we have plans to use GPLv2-licensed library python3-xlib, but we will not distribute it with our library. So user can install it by pip install our-lib ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
How to change the licence of Java project from GNU/ GPL to MIT / BSD / Apache
I had developed a Java application which is connected to MySQL Workbench by using mysql-connector-java-8.0.21.jar file. When I deploy the project and send source code to the client he says that:
The ...
3
votes
2answers
148 views
Is copyright of a contribution to a BSD 2-clause project automatically assigned to the project's copyright owner?
The 2-clause BSD licence includes the clause:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
What implications does this ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Clarification of BSD's second clause - binary must reproduce copyright notice?
The second clause of the BSD licences:
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or ...
13
votes
1answer
2k views
Derived work of BSD licensed software, how do I indicate this?
I found a javascript module (file), which contains two functions, and I would like to modify it under the terms of its BSD license. I'm happy for the resulting source file to be declared derived work ...
4
votes
3answers
2k views
Can an NPM package have an MIT license on github if it depends on MIT packages with BSD-2, BSD-3 and Apache 2 licenses
I am trying to understand if an NPM package can be open-source on GitHub with an MIT license if it depends on NPM packages that are open-source on GitHub with a BSD-2, BSD-3, Apache 1 or Apache 2 ...
3
votes
1answer
117 views
A small Go library under GPLv2, rewrite it under modified BSD
Go is using a modified BSD license. I would like to use the same license for some projects, most parts / libraries will be published under an open source license, but clients do demand some of the ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
Can someone fork my GPL licensed project and re-license it under MIT or BSD?
I want all the people who link to my software should also release their code under GPL. But what if someone forked it and attempted to relicense it under the MIT, BSD, Apache, or LGPL licenses? Can I ...
6
votes
2answers
301 views
Does the BSD licence implicitly apply to derived work?
Moved from the discussion of this answer, which makes the following claim about BSD licences:
The 3BSD licence requires (in clause 1) that your copyright notices be preserved, and that some licence ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
BSD 3-clause: how to update with modifications?
Let's say I start with code that is (c) 2014 Struvious Featherstone and licensed according to the BSD 3-clause license.
Now I make some changes for my employer Zippety Duda, Inc. and I want to ...
2
votes
1answer
998 views
Can I take MIT licensed code and distribute it under BSD?
There is django-auth-kerberos (MIT) which I want to cherry-pick as initial implementation and include+modify as a plugin to python-social-auth/social-core (BSD). Does the MIT license permit this? Are ...
1
vote
1answer
128 views
Standard contract for OSS work
I'm the maintainer/main contributor to a Java library, that is open source software under BSD license. I currently receive no funding for my work in this project, but demand is rising. As a full time ...
-4
votes
1answer
45 views
Licence of this dictionary file
What is the licence of this dictionary file https://svnweb.freebsd.org/csrg/share/dict/words?revision=61569&view=markup . Is it also BSD or some else?
22
votes
3answers
5k views
Can someone re-license my BSD-3-licensed project under the MIT license, remove my copyright notices, and list me as a "collaborator" without consent
I maintain an open source numerical computing library. I license my project under BSD-3. Another developer has copied 90% of the source code to a new project with the same name, while changing the ...
5
votes
2answers
880 views
Why does the clause 3 of 4-clause BSD makes it incompatible with GPL?
As explained on the GNU GPL site, the 4-clause BSD is incompatible with GPL because of the clause 3 which states:
All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
must ...
5
votes
1answer
324 views
Can I combine multiple 2-Clause BSD LICENSE files into one?
Suppose I have a program which uses the BSD 2-Clause license:
Copyright (c) 2016 Myself
All Rights Reserved
[BSD 2-Clause boilerplate here]
It happens to use a library, in some foo/ subdirectory ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
What's the usual procedure when using MIT or BSD-2-Clause licensed source code with something like `<script src="…`, `require(…` or `import …`?
This is not a legal question. It might touch the legal aspects around Open Source licenses but I need general help understanding how they work and what the usual procedure is.
Part 1 of my question: ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
Can I distribute a BSD code with GPL v3 binaries?
I found a GPL v3 licensed library, that I can compile for various architectures and use in the code for a BSD licensed project. This means that I probably have to distribute the binaries with it.
...
3
votes
2answers
556 views
In the BSD license, what does "redistribution" mean?
I'm trying to understand all the responsibilities of this license.
Does redistribution mean:
publicly placing a windows .exe using the BSD licensed library for users to download on a website(free and ...
3
votes
1answer
590 views
Can I use BSD license-based dll statically linked to MinGW under the run-time licence exception?
This BSD DLL depends on 3 MinGW run-time libraries (libgcc_s_sjlj-1.dll, libgfortran-3.dll and libquadmath-0.dll). What if I'll compile them statically into BSD dll to eliminate dependences on MinGW ...
2
votes
3answers
305 views
Do you need to contact the author to use a BSD-licensed software?
If a company wants to use an application that is distributed under the BSD license with this text below.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted ...
2
votes
1answer
167 views
Automated GPL download and installation in BSD project
I have a dependency on GPL-licensed library in the library I maintain. My library is BSD and must remain as such. Wondering if I can automate the download and installation of the GPL dependency in ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
What does "with modifications" mean in BSD licenses?
All BSD licenses start with the following paragraph:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
...
