Apache License 2.0
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| Apache License 2.0 | |
|---|---|
 Apache Software Foundation · Apache License 2.0 · source | |
| Name | Apache License, Version 2.0 |
| Author | Apache Software Foundation |
| Released | 2004 |
| Notable projects | Apache HTTP Server, Hadoop, Spark (software), Cassandra (database), Tomcat (software) |
Apache License 2.0
The Apache License, Version 2.0 is a permissive free software license published by the Apache Software Foundation that governs redistribution of source code and binaries for projects such as Apache HTTP Server, Hadoop, Spark (software), Cassandra (database), and Tomcat (software). It provides explicit terms for patent grants, attribution, and redistribution that distinguish it from licenses authored by entities like the Free Software Foundation and compatible frameworks such as the MIT License and BSD licenses. The license has influenced policy at organizations including Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Red Hat.
History
The license was drafted during discussions within the Apache Software Foundation community in the early 2000s and published in 2004, succeeding earlier ASF licensing practices associated with projects like Apache HTTP Server and Apache Ant. Its creation involved legal and technical stakeholders from corporations such as Sun Microsystems, IBM, Oracle Corporation, and Intel, responding to compatibility concerns raised by projects in ecosystems including Linux kernel distributions and contributors affiliated with Eclipse Foundation. Subsequent revisions and interpretations have been referenced in legal analyses by firms advising clients such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon (company), and Facebook.
Key Terms and Conditions
The license requires preservation of copyright notices and a NOTICE file for redistributions, obligations also seen in licensing discussions involving Mozilla Foundation and Eclipse Foundation. It mandates that redistributors include attribution notices analogous to documentation practices at institutions like Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Carnegie Mellon University. The text delineates patent grants and termination clauses that have been compared to provisions in agreements reviewed by legal entities such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Bar Association, and law firms representing clients like Samsung Electronics and Sony Corporation.
Permissions and Limitations
Permissions under the license permit reproduction, modification, distribution, and private use, allowing commercial adoption by companies including Google, Microsoft, Amazon (company), Apple Inc., and Red Hat. Limitations include disclaimer of warranty and limitation of liability, concepts addressed in precedent cases involving parties such as Oracle Corporation and SAP SE. The license explicitly allows sublicensing and distribution in source and binary forms, practices employed by projects hosted on platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
Patent Grant and Termination
A core element is an express patent license from contributors to users, mirroring protections sought in patents disputes involving entities like Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Nokia. The patent grant includes termination upon assertion of patent litigation against the licensed work, clauses relevant to litigations involving Google LLC and Motorola Mobility. This termination mechanism has been analyzed in the context of standards bodies such as IEEE and IETF and in corporate policies at firms like Intel and Qualcomm.
Compatibility with Other Licenses
The license is broadly compatible with permissive licenses including the MIT License, BSD licenses, and was specifically designed to be compatible with many proprietary and open ecosystems, facilitating integration with projects from organizations like Canonical, Debian Project, and SUSE. It is not inherently compatible with strong copyleft licenses such as the GNU General Public License version 2 in some scenarios, a matter discussed by advocates associated with the Free Software Foundation and lawyers advising Debian Project. Compatibility considerations have influenced corporate contributions at Microsoft and IBM and community migrations involving Eclipse Foundation projects.
Adoption and Notable Uses
Adoption spans major infrastructure, cloud, and data projects: Apache HTTP Server powers web services alongside stacks from NGINX, while Hadoop and Spark (software) underpin analytics at Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. Database and messaging projects such as Cassandra (database), Kafka (software), and ZooKeeper (software) use the license, affecting deployments by companies like Netflix, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Apple Inc.. The license is also used in tooling and libraries adopted by ecosystems around Kubernetes, Docker, and CI/CD platforms at GitHub and GitLab.