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| <div class="container"> <h1 id="apache-license-v20-and-gpl-compatibility">Apache License v2.0 and GPL Compatibility<a class="headerlink" href="#apache-license-v20-and-gpl-compatibility" title="Permalink">¶</a></h1> |
| <p>The <a href="http://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> |
| <a href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/#apache2">considers</a> the <a href="/licenses/LICENSE-2.0">Apache |
| License, Version 2.0</a> to be a |
| <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a> license, |
| <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#GPLCompatibleLicenses">compatible</a> with |
| version 3 of the <a href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a>. The |
| <a href="http://www.softwarefreedom.org/">Software Freedom Law Center</a> provides |
| <a href="http://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2007/gpl-non-gpl-collaboration.html">practical |
| advice</a> |
| for developers about including permissively licensed source.</p> |
| <p>Apache 2 software can therefore be included in GPLv3 projects, because the |
| GPLv3 license accepts our software into GPLv3 works. However, GPLv3 |
| software cannot be included in Apache projects. The licenses are |
| incompatible in one direction only, and it is a result of ASF's licensing |
| philosophy and the GPLv3 authors' interpretation of copyright law.</p> |
| <p>This licensing incompatibility applies <em>only</em> when some Apache project |
| software becomes a derivative work of some GPLv3 software, because then the |
| Apache software would have to be distributed under GPLv3. This would be |
| incompatible with ASF's requirement that all Apache software must be |
| distributed under the Apache License 2.0.</p> |
| <p>We avoid GPLv3 software because merely linking to it is considered by the |
| GPLv3 authors to create a derivative work. We want to honor their license. |
| Unless GPLv3 licensors relax this interpretation of their own license |
| regarding linking, our licensing philosophies are fundamentally |
| incompatible. This is an identical issue for both GPLv2 and GPLv3.</p> |
| <p>Despite our best efforts, the FSF has never considered the Apache License |
| to be compatible with GPL version 2, citing the patent termination and |
| indemnification provisions as restrictions not present in the older GPL |
| license. The Apache Software Foundation believes that you should always try |
| to obey the constraints expressed by the copyright holder when |
| redistributing their work.</p> |
| <p>The Apache Software Foundation is a nonprofit organization that is |
| dedicated to open source software development. We never knowingly |
| incorporate patented technology in our own products unless such technology |
| has been offered free for everyone.</p> |
| <p>Please note that this discussion only benefits third parties that produce |
| GPL-covered products. The Apache Software Foundation does not allow its own |
| projects to distribute software under licenses more restrictive than the |
| Apache License, and the Free Software Foundation does not distribute |
| software under the Apache License.</p> |
| <p>The ASF will not dual-license our software because such licenses make it |
| impossible to determine the conditions under which we have agreed to |
| collaborate on a collective product, and are thus contrary to the Apache |
| spirit of open, collaborative development among individuals, industry, and |
| nonprofit organizations.</p> |
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