Apache License

Apache License is a permissive free software license written by the Apache Software Foundation, a non-profit corporation established in Delaware to support Apache HTTP Server projects, including Apache Subversion, Apache Cassandra, and Apache Hadoop. The license is widely used by open-source software projects, such as Android, Google Chrome, and Facebook, due to its flexibility and compatibility with other licenses, including the GNU General Public License and the MIT License. The Apache License is also used by IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle Corporation for some of their open-source projects, such as IBM OpenPlatform, Microsoft .NET, and Oracle Java. The license has been approved by the Open Source Initiative and the Free Software Foundation, founded by Richard Stallman, and is considered a permissive free software license by the Free Software Foundation.

History and development

The Apache License was first developed in the late 1990s by the Apache Software Foundation, which was established by Brian Behlendorf, Roy Fielding, and other Apache HTTP Server developers, including Rob McCool and Cliff Skolnick. The first version of the license, Apache License 1.0, was released in 2000 and was used by the Apache HTTP Server project, as well as other Apache Software Foundation projects, such as Apache Tomcat and Apache Ant. The license was later revised and updated to version Apache License 1.1 in 2000, and then to version Apache License 2.0 in 2004, with the help of Lawrence Rosen, a lawyer and open-source software expert, and Rodney Peterson, a software engineer and Apache Software Foundation member. The development of the Apache License involved input from various lawyers, software engineers, and open-source software experts, including Eric Raymond, Tim O'Reilly, and Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel.

License terms and conditions

The Apache License is a permissive free software license that allows users to freely use, modify, and distribute software under its terms, including Apache HTTP Server, Apache Subversion, and Apache Cassandra. The license requires that users provide attribution to the original authors of the software, including Brian Behlendorf, Roy Fielding, and other Apache Software Foundation members, and that they include a copy of the license with any distributions of the software, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu. The license also provides a patent grant to users, which allows them to use any patents that are necessary to use the software, including patents held by IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle Corporation. The Apache License is compatible with other licenses, including the GNU General Public License and the MIT License, and is widely used by open-source software projects, such as Android, Google Chrome, and Facebook.

Compatibility with other licenses

The Apache License is compatible with a wide range of other licenses, including the GNU General Public License, the MIT License, and the BSD licenses, which are used by open-source software projects such as Linux kernel, GNU Emacs, and X Window System. The license is also compatible with proprietary software licenses, such as the Microsoft Windows license, which allows users to distribute software under the Apache License with Microsoft Windows, as well as Apple Inc.'s macOS and iOS licenses. The Apache License has been used in combination with other licenses, such as the GPLv2 and GPLv3, to create hybrid licenses, such as the LGPL, which is used by Qt and other open-source software projects. The compatibility of the Apache License with other licenses has been recognized by the Open Source Initiative and the Free Software Foundation, which have approved the license as a permissive free software license.

Version 2.0

The Apache License 2.0 was released in 2004 and is the current version of the license, which is used by Apache HTTP Server, Apache Subversion, and Apache Cassandra, as well as other Apache Software Foundation projects. The license includes several changes and improvements over the previous version, including a patent grant and a trademark grant, which allows users to use the Apache Software Foundation's trademarks, such as the Apache name and logo. The license also includes a warranty disclaimer and a limitation of liability clause, which protects the Apache Software Foundation and its contributors from liability for any damages or losses resulting from the use of the software, such as data loss or system crashes. The Apache License 2.0 has been widely adopted by open-source software projects, including Android, Google Chrome, and Facebook, and is considered a permissive free software license by the Free Software Foundation.

Use and adoption

The Apache License is widely used by open-source software projects, including Android, Google Chrome, and Facebook, as well as by proprietary software companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle Corporation. The license is also used by government agencies, such as the United States Department of Defense and the National Security Agency, and by educational institutions, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Stanford University. The Apache License has been adopted by a wide range of software projects, including operating systems, such as Linux kernel and BSD, web servers, such as Apache HTTP Server and Nginx, and databases, such as Apache Cassandra and MySQL. The license has also been used by hardware companies, such as Intel and ARM Holdings, to release open-source hardware designs, such as the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi.

Derivative works and redistribution

The Apache License allows users to create derivative works from software released under the license, such as Apache HTTP Server and Apache Subversion, and to redistribute those works under the same license, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu. The license requires that users provide attribution to the original authors of the software and that they include a copy of the license with any distributions of the software. The Apache License also allows users to create hybrid works by combining software released under the license with other software released under different licenses, such as the GPLv2 and GPLv3. The license has been used to create a wide range of derivative works, including forks of Apache HTTP Server and Apache Subversion, as well as new software projects, such as Apache Cassandra and Apache Hadoop. The Apache License has been recognized by the Open Source Initiative and the Free Software Foundation as a permissive free software license that allows for the creation and redistribution of derivative works. Category:Free software licenses