Code Project Open License

Code Project Open License
Author The Code Project
Latest version 1.02
Publisher The Code Project
Published April 15, 2008
DFSG compatible No[1]
FSF approved No[2]
OSI approved No[3]
GPL compatible No[2]
Copyleft No[2]
Linking from code with a different license Unclear
Website www.codeproject.com/info/cpol10.aspx

The Code Project Open License (CPOL) is a software license published by The Code Project, a community site for software developers. The license is mainly applied to content that is being published on the site.

License

The main points subject to the terms of the license are:[4]

The license itself grants copyright and patent protection to the developer. The Code Project has a comparison of the CPOL to open-source licenses on their site. Further, the license provides a distinction and clarification between the source code available for download and the source code's author's articles and writings about that content.

Open or not?

The "Open" in the name Code Project Open License refers to the license offering accessibility to the software's source code. The license is not "Open" as defined by the Open Source Initiative[5] because it places restrictions on how the software can be used, such as forbidding its use in illegal, immoral or improper material as well as a prohibition on commercial distribution of the code in isolation.

The CPOL is strictly for source code that is gratis, but is not recognized as a free or open license by the Free Software Foundation due to the restrictions within the CPOL forbidding usage for illegal purposes and the restrictions on selling the code without coupling it to a larger application.[6] The license is thus incompatible with the GNU General Public License and some other free software licenses, and inconsistent with the Open Source Definition, which requires that a license not discriminate against fields of endeavor. The Apache Software Foundation does not accept code under this license.[7]

See also

References

  1. "License information". Debian. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Licenses". The Code Project. July 1, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  3. "Licenses by Name". Open Source Initiative. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  4. "The Code Project Open License (CPOL) 1.02". The Code Project. April 15, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  5. "Archived Discussions on Not Approved Licenses". Open Source Initiative. December 19, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2014. CPOL 1.02
  6. Free Software Foundation Licensing and Compliance Lab. "Various Licenses and Comments about Them". gnu.org. Free Software Foundation. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  7. "Which licenses may NOT be included within Apache products?". ASF Legal Previously Asked Questions. Apache Software Foundation. Retrieved February 18, 2015.

External links

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