Gnu General Public License

The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or GPL) is the most commonly used free software license, which assures the end users, whether individuals, organizations or companies, the freedoms to practice, study, share, and configure the software. Software that enforces these rights is known as free software. The license was initially written by Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU project.

The GPL endows the receivers of a computer program with the rights of the Free Software Definition and use copy-left to guarantees the liberty that are well-looked-after whenever the work is disseminated, even when the work is altered or supplemented to. The GPL is a copyleft license, which means that consequential works can only be disseminated under the same authorization terms. This is in dissimilarity to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD licenses are the typical illustrations.