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What is General Public License

Encyclopedia of Networked and Virtual Organizations
(GPL) By far the most-frequently used license in OSS communities. The license is also one of the most restrictive forcing everyone to provide access to the source upon distributing a modified version of the software.
Published in Chapter:
Key Concepts and Definitions of Open Source Communities
Ruben van Wendel de Joode (Twynstra Gudde Consulting, The Netherlands, and Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands) and Sebastian Spaeth (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Copyright: © 2008 |Pages: 8
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-885-7.ch099
Abstract
Most open source software is developed in online communities. These communities are typically referred to as “open source software communities” or “OSS communities.” In OSS communities, the source code, which is the human-readable part of software, is treated as something that is open and that should be downloadable and modifiable to anyone who wishes to do so. The availability of the source code has enabled a practice of decentralized software development in which large numbers of people contribute time and effort. Communities like Linux and Apache, for instance, have been able to connect thousands of individual programmers and professional organizations (although most project communities remain relatively small). These people and organizations are not confined to certain geographical places; on the contrary, they come from literally all continents and they interact and collaborate virtually.
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Introduction to the Popular Open Source Statistical Software (OSSS)
A license that intended to provide freedom to share, study, modify software and guarantee the freedom for all its users (GNU Operating System, 2014 AU162: The in-text citation "GNU Operating System, 2014" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. ).
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