PHP License

PHP License
Version 3.01
Publisher The PHP Group
DFSG compatible Undecided
Free software Yes[1]
OSI approved Yes[2]
GPL compatible No[1]
Copyleft No[1]
Copyfree No[3]

The PHP License is the software license under which the PHP scripting language is released. The PHP License is a non-copyleft free software license according to the Free Software Foundation[1] and an open source license according to the Open Source Initiative.[2] The license is GPL-incompatible due to restrictions on the usage of the term PHP.[1]

Contents

Terms

The PHP License is designed to encourage widespread adoption of the source code. Redistribution is permitted in source or binary form with or without modifications provided that:

  1. The PHP License copyright statement is included;
  2. The word "PHP" is not included in the title of any derivative works;
  3. The following acknowledgment is included in whatever form the code is redistributed under:
This product includes PHP software, freely available from <http://www.php.net/software/>

Version 3 of PHP used a dual license - PHP 3's source is available under either the PHP License or the GNU General Public License (GPL). This practice was discontinued as of PHP 4, with PHP's developers citing the restrictions on reuse associated with the GPL's copyleft enforcement as being the reason for dropping it.[4]

DFSG License status

According to a discussion on the debian-legal mailinglist,[5] the status of making the PHP license DFSG accepted is still undecided, even though the discussion has been somewhat quiet since 2008.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "GPL-Incompatible, Free Software Licenses". Various Licenses and Comments about Them. Free Software Foundation. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#GPLIncompatibleLicenses. 
  2. ^ a b "OSI-approved licenses by name". Alphabetized list of open source licenses approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical. 
  3. ^ http://copyfree.org/rejected/
  4. ^ "Why is PHP 4 not dual-licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) like PHP 3 was?". PHP: License Information FAQ. PHP.net. http://www.php.net/license/. 
  5. ^ http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/12/threads.html#00025

External links