GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License (or GPL in short) is a copyleft license for free software. It is by far the most common license used in games documented by LibreGameWiki. Version 3 is the latest and current version.
Usage[edit]
Although it is intended for source code, it fits other types of works well (and Richard Stallman does not object to such uses[1]).
Some people prefer GPL (or GFDL) for media over the free Creative Commons licenses like CC BY-SA for compatibility, and because GPL protects the source availability and editability and not just prohibits DRM.[2]
The GNU GPL is by far the most used free software license.[3]
Version number[edit]
When licensing something under the GPL, it is very important to also specify the version number. Because technically, each license version is considered a separate license.
“any later version” or “this version only”?[edit]
For LibreGameWiki, it is also important to record whether the work is licensed under that version and any later version, or if it is only licensed under that version. The Free Software Foundation recommends the first option.[4] If the “any later version” version is used, this can be usually be found in the README file.
If this isn’t specified, LibreGameWiki should assume it the “this version only” option[5]).
Abbreviations[edit]
In this wiki, we use the following abbreviations:
- GPL: GNU General Public License
- GPLvX: GNU General Public License, version X (X = a version number)
- GPLvX+: GNU General Public License, version X, or any later version (X = a version number)
- GPLvX only: GNU General Public License, version X, and only that version (X = a version number)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Интер(акти)вью 18: Ричард Столлман, Русский Журнал, 2000-09-25 (Russian)
- ↑ Finger weg von CreativeCommons Lizenzen für freie Werke, Arne Babenhauserheide, 2007-07-24 (German)
- ↑ http://osrc.blackducksoftware.com/data/licenses/
- ↑ The GPL license text has a section at the bottom that contain instructions on how to do that (“How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs”), along with a template text to be inserted into readme files.
- ↑ because the other option only counts if it was explicitly chosen