Content Authors

When uploading an article you need to be aware of the risks and legal issues involved. We live in a litigious world so you need to protect yourself against those seeking damages against you for problems that may (or may not) have been caused by your article. Just saying "The code is free for use" is no longer enough. What does "free" mean? Are there any restrictions? What happens if your code breaks my system and costs me money?

Code and Article Users

Always ensure that the License attached to an article is suitable for its intended use. If in doubt, contact the author directly for clarification.

The Licenses

Here is a list of current licenses supported on The QAU Programmers. This is merely a rough guideline and the User is responsible for reading more on the said license fit for their use. Reading up is ideal because there may be some exceptions with respect to license use and specifications, depending on the circumstance. Ultimately, it is up to the User to decide which license to attach to his or her submitted content.

The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Attach this license if your Source Code and all it Executable Files can be (1) used in commercial applications; (2) redistributed; (3) modified to produce derivatives. This likewise applies if the software is provided “as is” – there is no warranty or guarantee of any sort is provided.

CPOL grants copyright protection and direct patent license and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications.

The Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL)

CDDL is derived from the Mozilla Public License (MPL). This makes it more suitable for use clear of the Mozilla Foundation.

CDDL grants copyright protection and direct patent license and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications. Also, CDDL requires the release of bug fixes or extensions to public domains.

The Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL)

Used mainly by Microsoft, Ms-PL allows compiled derived code to be disseminated, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.

If the source code is to be redistributed, a complete copy of the Ms-PL is necessarily included in the redistribution.

Ms-PL grants copyright protection and direct patent license and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications.

The Mozilla Public License 1.1 (MPL 1.1)

This is used primarily, but not only, by Mozilla and Firefox. MPL 1.1’s patent clauses are not acceptable to some users.

MPL 1.1 grants copyright protection and direct patent license and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications. Also, MPL 1.1 requires the release of bug fixes or extensions to public domains.

The Common Public License Version 1.0 (CPL)

CPL is based on the IBM Public License and partly inclined to the Mozilla Public License.

CPL grants copyright protection and direct patent license and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications. Also, CPL requires the release of bug fixes or extensions to public domains.

The Eclipse Public License 1.0

This is an updated version of the CPL. In some cases, this license is more acceptable to business related purposes.

Eclipse grants copyright protection and direct patent license and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications. Also, Eclipse requires the release of bug fixes or extensions to public domains.

The MIT License

Quite an outdated license, MIT provides essentially no restrictions on the use of the code. This license provides inadequate protection for both authors and users.

MIT grants copyright protection and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications.

The BSD License

Similar to the MIT, BSD grants no restrictions on the use of the code. It also provides very little in the way of protection for authors or users. Its basic difference from MIT is that it includes a “no endorsement” clause.

BSD grants copyright protection and direct patent license and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications.

The Apache License, Version 2.0

This license is a slightly more constrained version of the BSD or MIT license. Apache includes patent clauses.

Apache grants copyright protection and direct patent license and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications.

The Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License

Creative Commons, from the name itself, involves "share alike". This simply implies that a user can share this work as long as that work has a similar license. Creative Commons requires a visible link.

Creative Commons grants copyright protection and can be used in commercial applications. It is also important to note that this is a viral license.

The zlib/libpng License

This license provides little restrictions and puts emphasis on liberty of use and re-use.

zlib/libpng grants copyright protection and can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications.

A Public Domain dedication

This is merely a dedication to the public domain. Inclusion of this dedication implies that all rights are given up and any user can do as they please with the code. This is NOT a license and therefore, provides NO guarantees for the user or the author.

Public Domain dedication can be used in commercial applications and closed source applications.

The Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

This license allows users to distribute, reprocess, and adapt the author’s work, even for commercial purposes, as long as due credit is given to the original content and author.

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 grants copyright protection and can be used in commercial applications. It is also important to note that this is a viral license.

The Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

A user can share this content as long as that work has this same license.

Share Alike 3.0 grants copyright protection and can be used in commercial applications. Please note that this is a viral license.

The GNU General Public License (GPLv3)

GPLv3 is a very common but often misinterpreted license. Similar to “share alike”, developers are free to derive from this code as long as they use the same license for their additional content. GNU is viral in nature and this makes is unacceptable to many users.

GPLv3 grants copyright protection and can be used in commercial applications. Also, GPLv3 requires the release of bug fixes or extensions to public domains.

The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPLv3)

Lesser GPL, derived from GPL, is intended to allow other non-GPL code to use GPL code. Use this license if you are licensing functionality already universally accessible.

LGPLv3 grants copyright protection and can be used in commercial applications and proprietary applications. Also, LGPLv3 requires the release of bug fixes or extensions to public domains and it is likewise a viral license.