Beerware
Beerware
Term for software
Beerware is a tongue-in-cheek term for software released under a very relaxed license (beerware licensed software). It provides the end user with the right to use a particular program (or do anything else with the source code).[2]
Author | Poul-Henning Kamp |
---|---|
Latest version | 42 |
Publisher | Yes |
Published | 2004 |
SPDX identifier | Beerware |
Debian FSG compatible | Yes |
FSF approved | Yes (see "informal license" section)[1] |
OSI approved | No |
GPL compatible | Yes[1] |
Copyleft | No[1] |
Linking from code with a different licence | Yes |
Should the user of the product meet the author and consider the software useful, they are encouraged to either buy the author a beer "in return" or drink one themselves. The Fedora project and Humanitarian-FOSS project at Trinity College recognized the "version 42" beerware license variant as extremely permissive "copyright only" license, and consider it as GPL compatible.[3][4] As of 2016[update] the Free Software Foundation does not mention this license explicitly, but its list of licenses contains an entry for informal licenses, which are listed as free, non-copyleft, and GPL-compatible. However, the FSF recommends the use of more detailed licenses over informal ones.[1]
Many variations on the beerware model have been created. Poul-Henning Kamp's beerware license is simple and short, in contrast to the GPL, which he has described as a "joke".[5] The full text of Kamp's license is:[6]
/* * ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- * "THE BEER-WARE LICENSE" (Revision 42): * <[email protected]> wrote this file. As long as you retain this notice you * can do whatever you want with this stuff. If we meet some day, and you think * this stuff is worth it, you can buy me a beer in return. Poul-Henning Kamp * ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
- 0BSD a public domain equivalent license used by Toybox and explicitly allowed for Android
- Anti-copyright license
- Careware
- Comparison of free and open-source software licenses
- Donationware
- WTFPL
- "Various Licenses and Comments about Them ยง Informal license". www.gnu.org. Free Software Foundation. 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
- "What Does "Free as in Speech" or "Free as in Beer" Really Mean?". www.howtogeek.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- "Licensing/Beerware". Fedora project. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
- "Beerware License". Humanitarian-FOSS. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
The license is compatible with proprietary licenses and the GNU GPL, as code under this license has no restrictions whatsoever.
- Kamp, Poul-Henning (2004-10-24). "Poul-Henning Kamp". Archived from the original on 21 April 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-24.