Mozilla Public License
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| Mozilla Public License | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the Mozilla Foundation (the Mozilla mascot) Mozilla mascot |
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| Author | Mozilla Foundation |
| Version | 1.1 |
| Copyright | Mozilla Foundation |
| Published | ? |
| DFSG compatible | ? |
| Free software | Yes |
| OSI approved | Yes |
| GPL compatible | No[1] |
| Copyleft | Limited[2] |
| Linking from code with a different license | Yes |
The Mozilla Public License (MPL) is a free and open source software license. Version 1.0 was developed by Mitchell Baker when she worked as a lawyer at Netscape Communications Corporation and version 1.1 at the Mozilla Foundation.[3] The MPL is characterized as a hybridization of the modified BSD license and GNU General Public License.[4]
The MPL is the license for the Mozilla Application Suite, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird and other Mozilla software. Adobe has announced it will use MPL to licence its Flex product line by the end of 2007.[5] The MPL has been adapted by others as a license for their software, most notably Sun Microsystems, as the Common Development and Distribution License for OpenSolaris, the open source version of the Solaris 10 operating system.
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[edit] Terms
The license is regarded as a weak copyleft. Specifically, source code copied or changed under the MPL must stay under the MPL. Unlike strong copyleft licenses, the code under the MPL may be combined in a program with proprietary files which would otherwise be derivative works of the MPL code. For example, Netscape 6 and later releases were proprietary versions of the Mozilla Application Suite. For these Netscape releases, AOL Time Warner was also exercising the exclusive rights to proprietary versions that the Netscape Public License provided to itself.
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) considers the license a free software license, but "not a strong copyleft" one. However, "unlike the X11 license" the license has "some complex restrictions" making it incompatible with the GNU GPL. They urge people not to use the license because of this incompatibility unless the provision in section 13 of the MPL is exercised to provide the work under either the GPL or any other GPL-compatible license.[6] The MPL was approved as an open source software license by the Open Source Initiative.
The Mozilla Suite and Firefox have been relicensed under multiple licenses, including the MPL, GPL and LGPL.[7]
[edit] MPL-based licenses
- Common Development and Distribution License
- Sun Public License
- gSOAP Public License[8]
- AROS Public License
- SugarCRM Public License
- Common Public Attribution License
- Erlang Public License[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Free Software Foundation, Various Licenses and Comments about Them: Mozilla Public License, http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#MPL
- ^ Mozilla, MPL FAQ, http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/mpl-faq.html
- ^ The Time 100: Mitchell Baker: The "Lizard Wrangler" (Marc Andreessen, Time, 18 April 2005
- ^ Andrew M. St. Laurent, Understanding Open Source & Free Software Licensing, pp. 62-63 (O'Reilly 2004)
- ^ Adobe, Adobe to Open Source Flex, http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200704/042607Flex.html
- ^ Free Software Foundation, Various Licenses and Comments about Them: Mozilla Public License, http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#MPL
- ^ Mozilla Relicensing FAQ
- ^ gSOAP Public License
- ^ ERLANG PUBLIC LICENSE
[edit] External links
- Mozilla Public License, version 1.1, plain text (mozilla.org)
- Annotated Mozilla Public License, version 1.1 (mozilla.org)
- MPL FAQ (mozilla.org)
- Mozilla Relicensing FAQ (mozilla.org)
- List of OSI approved licenses
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