View source for Apple Public Source License

{{Short description|Open source software license}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}

{{Infobox software license
| name = Apple Public Source License
| image = 
| caption = 
| author = [[Apple Inc.]]
| version = 2.0
| copyright = 
| date = August 6, 2003
| OSI approved = Yes
| Debian approved = No<ref name="dfsglist">{{cite web
                        |url=https://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses#Apple_Public_Source_License_.28APSL.29
                        |title=Apple Public Source License (APSL)
                        |work=The Big DFSG-compatible Licenses
                        |publisher=[[Debian Project]]
                        |access-date=January 27, 2017
                      }}</ref>
| FSF approved = Yes (Version 2.0, not versions 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2)<ref name="fsflist">{{cite web
                        |url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#apsl2
                        |title=Apple Public Source License (APSL), version 2.x
                        |work=Various Licenses and Comments about Them
                        |publisher=[[Free Software Foundation]]
                        |access-date=July 6, 2009
                      | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090716201618/http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html| archive-date= July 16, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#apsl1 |title=Various Licenses and Comments about Them - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation |publisher=Gnu.org |date=1999-09-03 |accessdate=2022-05-13}}</ref>
| GPL compatible = No<ref name="fsflist" />
| copyleft = Partial<ref name="fsfessay" />
| linking = Yes<ref name="fsfessay" />
| website = https://opensource.apple.com/apsl/
}}
The '''Apple Public Source License''' ('''APSL''') is the [[open-source license|open-source]] and [[free software license]] under which [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[Darwin (operating system)|Darwin]] [[operating system]] was released in 2000. A free and open-source software license was voluntarily adopted to further involve the community from which much of Darwin originated.

The first version of the Apple Public Source License was approved by the [[Open Source Initiative]] (OSI).<ref name=LWN-OSI>{{cite web|last=Raymond|first=Eric|title=OSI clarifies the status of the APSL|url=https://lwn.net/1999/0318/a/raymond.html|work=Linux Weekly News|access-date=February 14, 2013}}</ref> Version 2.0, released July 29, 2003, is also approved as a free software license by the [[Free Software Foundation]] (FSF) which finds it acceptable for developers to work on projects that are already covered by this license. However, the FSF recommends that developers should not release new projects under this license, because the partial [[copyleft]] is not compatible with the [[GNU General Public License]] and allows linking with files released entirely as [[proprietary software]].<ref name="fsfessay">[http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/apsl.html FSF website]</ref> The license does require that if any derivatives of the original source are released externally, their source should be made available; the Free Software Foundation compares this requirement to a similar one in its own [[GNU Affero General Public License]].<ref name="fsfessay" />

Many software releases from Apple have now been [[Software relicensing|relicensed]] under the more liberal [[Apache License]], such as the [[Bonjour (software)|Bonjour]] [[Zeroconf]] stack. However, most OS component source code remains under APSL.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[:Category:Software using the Apple Public Source License|Software using the Apple Public Source License (category)]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [https://opensource.apple.com/apsl Text of the Apple Public Source License]
* [https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/apsl.html Free Software Foundation's opinion on the license]

{{FOSS}}

[[Category:Free and open-source software licenses]]
[[Category:Permissive software licenses]]
[[Category:Apple Inc.|Public Source License]]


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