GNU General Public License (GPL) is a widely used free software license that grants users the freedom to run, study, share, and modify software. It’s a “copyleft” license, meaning that any derivative works must also be licensed under the GPL, ensuring continued freedom for users. The GPL was created by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation to protect the rights of users and prevent software from becoming proprietary.
No Restrictions on Distribution:
You can distribute GPL-licensed software, and even charge for it, as long as you also provide the source code and adhere to the GPL terms.
How do get a GPL license?
You don’t “get” it. You write inside your software (inside every file at the top, inside the readme, maybe also have a license.txt file). And you just give the name of the GPL license you want to use. There are several version (GPLv2, GPLv3…).
You can list their full names e.g. GNU General Public License v3.0
Or the shortened SPDX format name: GPL-3.0-only
You can include the text of the license (but it’s not mandatory) in a file. You can use the one from SPDX.org: Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) or from any other reference source (FSF’s site, Open Source Initiative site).
To obtain a GNU General Public License (GPL) for your software, you don’t actually need to apply for a license. The GPL is a free software license that you can apply to your code by including the license text with your project. Here’s how to do it:
- Choose the Version: Decide which version of the GPL you want to use. The most common versions are GPLv2 and GPLv3. Each version has its own terms and conditions, so review them to determine which best fits your needs.
- Include License Text: Add the full text of the GPL license to your project. You can find the official text on the GNU website:
– GPLv2 License Text
– GPLv3 License Text - Add a License Notice: In your source code files, include a comment at the top specifying that your code is licensed under the GPL. For example:
“`plaintext
This file is part of [Your Project Name].
[Your Project Name] is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
[Your Project Name] is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with [Your Project Name]. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/
- Distribute Your Code: When you distribute your software, make sure to include the GPL license text along with your files, typically in a file named
LICENSEorCOPYING. - Consider Additional Documentation: You may also want to provide a README file that explains how users can comply with the GPL, how to obtain the source code, and other relevant information.
By following these steps, you can effectively apply the GPL to your project and ensure that it is legally protected under the terms of the license.
