BSD licenseEdit

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The BSD license is one of the big two open source free software licenses (the other is the GPL). Whereas the GPL is the most well-known and widely-used example of a "non-permissive" free software license, the BSD license is probably the most well-known and widely-used "permissive" free software license.

During the early stages of open source penetration into the corporate world, the more militant nature of the GPL made it well-suited to the task of gaining a foot hold in what was previously the domain of proprietary, closed source software only. The onerous conditions of the GPL made it difficult to abuse without opening oneself to possible legal countermeasures, and the "viral" nature of the license ensured that it gained both publicity and an ever-increasing "market share" in the open source world. The explosive growth of the Linux/GNU family of operating systems was part of a feedback loop in which the success of Linux bolstered the popularity of the GPL, while the GPL helped to ensure the growth of Linux.

After many years, however, the battle for "mind share" has been pretty much won by open source software. That is, we no longer need such a "militant" license to protect our "vulnerable" open source projects; rather, even in the corporate world open source methodologies are often seen as superior and are embraced without the need for compulsion to do so via the requirements of the GPL. As such, I think the time of more permissive licenses like the BSD license has come, and it makes sense for all new open source projects started nowadays to choose the BSD license, or another permissive license like it.

I’ve released many products under the BSD license, including:

Sample license text (simplified 2-clause version)

Copyright 2011 Wincent Colaiuta. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

See also