Changes for page 3. Free Software and Open Source Software
Last modified by chrisby on 2025/01/11 10:03
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... ... @@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ 47 47 48 48 **Copyleft Licenses** 49 49 50 -To address problems with proprietary software, the FSF promotes copyleft licenses, like the AGPL license,which require that any derivative worksremain under the samelicense.Thenotion of“derivative work”is somewhat vaguein legal terms, buta common interpretationisthatsoftware dependingonAGPL code to function is aderivative work.50 +To address the problems with proprietary software, the FSF primarily promotes copyleft licenses, which require that any derivative works of the software be licensed under the same terms as the original code. The term "derivative work" is legally somewhat vague, but here is a common understanding: 51 51 52 - Forinstance, if a project directly incorporates AGPL source code or relies on an AGPL library, it must adopt theAGPL licensefor its entire codebase.Similarly, whensoftwarecallsanexternal AGPLserviceover a network, the softwareis typically not aderivativeworkif that serviceis purelyoptional.However, if the service is essential andthesoftwarewon’tfunctionwithoutit, even if the AGPL code is hosted externally, the software is stillconsideredaderivative work. Attempting to “bypass”the AGPL by outsourcingessentialfunctions in a network service will notavoid the licenserequirements.52 +* When a software uses the source code directly in order to build, that means using a AGPlibrary 53 53 54 - Insummary,this copyleftlicense ensuresthatwheneverAGPLcode is reused,orwhencontributionsaremade to existing copyleft code,the resultingworkmustremain open source.Athealsoguaranteesthat the source codeisavailableso users can modify, build, and control the software themselves.54 +This ensures that when contributions are made to a copyleft project, or when copyleft code is directly reused in another project, the resulting work must be released under the same copyleft license. This prevents vendors from incorporating copyleft code into proprietary products, and ensures that any derivative works remain open source. In addition, copyleft licenses require that the source code be made available to users so that they can modify, build, and control the software themselves. 55 55 56 56 **License Preferences** 57 57