Beerware

Last updated
Beerware
Author Poul-Henning Kamp
Latest version42
Publisher Yes
Published1998 [a]
SPDX identifierBeerware
Debian FSG compatible Yes
FSF approved Yes (see "informal license" section) [2]
OSI approved No
GPL compatible Yes [2]
Copyleft No [2]
Linking from code with a different licence Yes

Beerware is a tongue-in-cheek software license with permissive terms, which grants the right to do anything with the source code, assuming the license notice is preserved. [3]

Contents

Description

Should the user of the code consider the software useful, they are encouraged to buy the author a beer "in return" if they ever meet. The Humanitarian-FOSS project at Trinity College recognized the "version 42" beerware license variant as an extremely permissive "copyright only" and GPL-compatible license. [3] According to the Free Software Foundation the license would be classified as an "informal" free, non-copyleft and GPL-compatible license, however more detailed licenses are recommended. [2]

Poul-Henning Kamp states preference of his Beerware license to other licenses, such as BSD and GPL, the latter of which he has described as a "joke". [4] The full text of Kamp's license is: [5] 

/*  * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------  * "THE BEER-WARE LICENSE" (Revision 42):  * <phk@FreeBSD.ORG> wrote this file.  As long as you retain this notice you  * can do whatever you want with this stuff. If we meet some day, and you think  * this stuff is worth it, you can buy me a beer in return.   Poul-Henning Kamp  * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------  */

Notes

  1. ↑ According to the Wayback Machine, the earliest revision of Poul-Henning Kamp's website containing the license is 1998. It is unknown whether this was indeed the first year of the license's publication. [1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Poul-Henning Kamp at the Wayback Machine (archived 2001-03-02)
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Various Licenses and Comments about Them § Informal license". www.gnu.org. Free Software Foundation. 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
  3. 1 2 "Beerware License". Humanitarian-FOSS. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20. The license is compatible with proprietary licenses and the GNU GPL, as code under this license has no restrictions whatsoever.
  4. ↑ I think the GNU license is a joke, it fights the capitalism it so much is against with their own tools, and no company is ever going to risk any kind of proximity to so many so vague statements assembled in a license.
  5. ↑ Kamp, Poul-Henning (2004-10-24). "Poul-Henning Kamp". Archived from the original on 21 April 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
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