I'd like to know what people prefer. The GNU GPL, or Berkeley Software Distribution's BSD Licenses. These two licenses are both open-source, and have a history of people strongly supporting either one. For those that don't know about them, here are some short descriptions from Wikipedia:
GNU General Public License (GPL):
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely used free software license. The GPL is the most popular and well-known example of the type of strong copyleft license that requires derived works to be available under the same copyleft. Under this philosophy, the GPL is said to grant the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software definition and uses copyleft to ensure the freedoms are preserved, even when the work is changed or added to. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD licenses are the standard examples.
Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Licenses:
BSD licenses represent a family of permissive free software licences. Permissive licenses, sometimes with important differences pertaining to license compatibility, are referred to as "BSD-style licenses". The licenses have few restrictions compared to other free software licenses such as the GNU General Public License or even the default restrictions provided by copyright, putting it relatively closer to the public domain.
Personally, I have used the GNU GPL with software I have released. I am a strong believer in the OSS philosophy, and would not want any of my work taken and included in a proprietary application that I didn't approve of.
More info on the differences between GPL & BSD can be found here:
http://fosswire.com/2007/04/06/the-differences-between-the-gpl-lgpl-and-the-bsd/
here:
http://blog.linuxoss.com/2006/10/04/at-a-glance-2-gpl-cddl-and-bsd-vs-eula/
and here:
http://blog.linuxoss.com/2006/10/02/at-a-glance-gpl-cddl-and-bsd/
GNU General Public License (GPL):
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely used free software license. The GPL is the most popular and well-known example of the type of strong copyleft license that requires derived works to be available under the same copyleft. Under this philosophy, the GPL is said to grant the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software definition and uses copyleft to ensure the freedoms are preserved, even when the work is changed or added to. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD licenses are the standard examples.
Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Licenses:
BSD licenses represent a family of permissive free software licences. Permissive licenses, sometimes with important differences pertaining to license compatibility, are referred to as "BSD-style licenses". The licenses have few restrictions compared to other free software licenses such as the GNU General Public License or even the default restrictions provided by copyright, putting it relatively closer to the public domain.
Personally, I have used the GNU GPL with software I have released. I am a strong believer in the OSS philosophy, and would not want any of my work taken and included in a proprietary application that I didn't approve of.
More info on the differences between GPL & BSD can be found here:
http://fosswire.com/2007/04/06/the-differences-between-the-gpl-lgpl-and-the-bsd/
here:
http://blog.linuxoss.com/2006/10/04/at-a-glance-2-gpl-cddl-and-bsd-vs-eula/
and here:
http://blog.linuxoss.com/2006/10/02/at-a-glance-gpl-cddl-and-bsd/
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