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GNU General Public License: History & Works

The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses. The GPL is a copyleft license, which means that it guarantees end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software, but if you distribute a derivative work or modification, you must provide the source code to those recipients under…

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GNU General Public License topic overview

The analysis highlights History and Works as prominent areas in the source structure around GNU General Public License. 2 topics appear in more than one source area, which can help identify connections that are less obvious in a linear reading.

Related topics
225
Source areas
10
Connected nodes
237
Extracted relationships
86
Concept neighborhoods
69
Bridge connections
237

What this topic covers Research coverage

Source areas are shown by the number of related topics found in each part of the analysis. Use smaller areas too: they can reveal specialized angles and content gaps.

Overview · 45 topics
Legal status · 40 topics
History · 30 topics
Reception · 29 topics
Compatibility and multi-licensing · 24 topics
Terms and conditions · 24 topics
Adoption · 20 topics
Text and other media · 7 topics
Derivations · 6 topics
Linking and derived works · 2 topics

Smaller areas are not necessarily less important. They contain fewer connections in this analysis and can be useful for finding specialized angles or coverage gaps.

Key facts & relationships

High-confidence facts extracted from structured source data. Use them as anchors for further research.

Author
Richard Stallman
Publisher
Free Software Foundation
Copyleft
Yes
Debian FSG compatible
Yes
FSF approved
Yes
Latest version
3

Explore all related topics Closing gaps

Browse the complete topic structure, not only the most central items. Less prominent entities and concepts can reveal missing angles, specialized context and useful research gaps. Each item opens a new analysis centered on that subject.

Overview

History

Terms and conditions

Derivations

Linking and derived works

Legal status

Compatibility and multi-licensing

Text and other media

Adoption

Reception

Advanced semantic analysis

Deeper signals for content research, entity SEO and topical coverage. The plain-language headings explain what each technical view is useful for.

How GNU General Public License connects Entity context

The extracted context around GNU General Public License shows recurring relationship patterns in the source. For example, GNU General Public License → Archived, Commentaries, Covers GPLv2, February, FSF, FSFEThe Labyrinth, General Public License, GNU, GNU GPLHistory, GPL, GPL Compliance, GPLFrequently Asked Questions, GPLGNU General Public License, July, Li-Cheng Tai, License, Linux, Nikolai Bezroukov, November, Official Another extracted example is GNU General Public License → AGPL, Criticism, EUPL, Free, GNU Affero General Public, GNU General Public LicensePublic, GNU Lesser General Public, GPL, LGPL, License, Software, Union Public Licence. Use these groups to spot repeated connection types before inspecting the individual relationships.

GNU General Public License

Top relations

related to External links · 27
GNU General Public License → Archived, Commentaries, Covers GPLv2, February, FSF, FSFEThe Labyrinth, General Public License, GNU, GNU GPLHistory, GPL, GPL Compliance, GPLFrequently Asked Questions, GPLGNU General Public License, July, Li-Cheng Tai, License, Linux, Nikolai Bezroukov, November, Official
see also · 12
GNU General Public License → AGPL, Criticism, EUPL, Free, GNU Affero General Public, GNU General Public LicensePublic, GNU Lesser General Public, GPL, LGPL, License, Software, Union Public Licence
related to GNAT Modified General Public License · 11
GNU General Public License → Ada, GMGPL, GPL, License, Modified GPL, Public License, The, The GNAT Ada, The GNAT Modified General, The GNAT Reference Manual, Usepragma License
SPDX identifier · 6
GNU General Public License → GPL-1.0-only, GPL-1.0-or-later, GPL-2.0-only, GPL-2.0-or-later, GPL-3.0-only, GPL-3.0-or-later
Author · 1
GNU General Public License → Richard Stallman
Copyleft · 1
GNU General Public License → Yes
Debian FSG compatible · 1
GNU General Public License → Yes
FSF approved · 1
GNU General Public License → Yes
Latest version · 1
GNU General Public License → 3
Linking from code with a different license · 1
GNU General Public License → Software licensed under GPL-compatible licenses only, with the exception of the LGPL, which allows all programs.

Important terminology

Use these terms to understand the vocabulary surrounding the topic, not as a checklist for keyword stuffing.

Important terminology

gpl license software free code work source gplv3 gnu licenses version copyright terms public gpl-licensed program gplv2 use fsf used

GNU General Public License relationships Subject–Predicate–Object triples

TTTA extracted 86 structured relationships around GNU General Public License. Examples in this analysis include GNU General Public License → Author → Richard Stallman and GNU General Public License → Copyleft → Yes. The table shows each extracted connection, where it came from and its confidence.

SubjectPredicateObjectConfidenceSrc
GNU General Public LicenseAuthorRichard Stallman1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseCopyleftYes1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseDebian FSG compatibleYes1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseFSF approvedYes1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseLatest version31.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseLinking from code with a different licenseSoftware licensed under GPL-compatible licenses only, with the exception of the LGPL, which allows all programs.1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseOSI approvedYes (applies to GPLv3-only and GPLv2-only)1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicensePublished25 February 1989; 37 years ago (1989-02-25)1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicensePublisherFree Software Foundation1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseSPDX identifierGPL-3.0-or-later1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseSPDX identifierGPL-3.0-only1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseSPDX identifierGPL-2.0-or-later1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseSPDX identifierGPL-2.0-only1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseSPDX identifierGPL-1.0-or-later1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseSPDX identifierGPL-1.0-only1.00infobox
GNU General Public LicenseWebsitewww.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html1.00infobox

Related concept clusters Concept neighborhoods

The concept neighborhoods around GNU General Public License bring nearby vocabulary together. In this analysis, examples include Gnu, Public and Version. Use the clusters to find adjacent concepts and terminology that may deserve separate research.

  • GNU General Public License
    • Gnu
    • Public
    • Version
    • Free
    • Licenses
    • Project
    • Fsf
    • License
    • Released
    • Programs
    • Gpl
    • Kernel
  • gnu general public license
    • Public
    • Gnu
    • Software
    • Licenses
    • Version
    • Free
    • Project
    • Fsf
    • Gplv3
    • Use
    • Gplv2
    • License
  • free software licenses
    • Software
    • License
    • Foundation
    • Gnu
    • Fsf
    • Gpl
    • Public
    • Licenses
    • Gpl-licensed
    • Source
    • Used
    • Use
  • copyleft
    • Source
    • Code
    • Work
    • Distribution
    • Derivative
    • General
    • Licenses
    • Public
    • Terms
    • Legal
    • Gpl
    • Software
  • fsf
    • Gnu
    • Version
    • Modified
    • Use
    • Software
    • Gpl
    • Programs
    • Public
    • License
    • Stallman
    • General
    • Two
  • gnu project
    • Public
    • Version
    • Free
    • Licenses
    • Project
    • Fsf
    • License
    • Released
    • Programs
    • Gpl
    • Kernel
    • Later
  • computer program
    • Work
    • Terms
    • Combined
    • Used
    • Also
    • Source
    • Licensed
    • Distribution
    • Legal
    • Gpl-licensed
    • Modified
    • Two
  • the free software definition
    • Software
    • License
    • Foundation
    • Gnu
    • Fsf
    • Gpl
    • Licenses
    • Gpl-licensed
    • Source
    • Public
    • Use
    • Gplv3

Connections between topic areas Semantic bridges

For GNU General Public License, one of the stronger structural bridges in this analysis connects GNU General Public License with Overview. Bridges highlight paths between different parts of the map and can reveal research angles that are easy to miss in a flat list.

Min side: 3
GNU General Public License — Overview · splits 192 ⟂ 46
GNU General Public License — Legal status · splits 197 ⟂ 41
GNU General Public License — History · splits 207 ⟂ 31
GNU General Public License — Reception · splits 208 ⟂ 30
GNU General Public License — Terms and conditions · splits 213 ⟂ 25
GNU General Public License — Compatibility and multi-licensing · splits 213 ⟂ 25
GNU General Public License — Adoption · splits 217 ⟂ 21
GNU General Public License — Text and other media · splits 230 ⟂ 8
GNU General Public License — Derivations · splits 231 ⟂ 7
GNU General Public License — Linking and derived works · splits 235 ⟂ 3

Map overview Semantic statistics

GNU General Public License

Nodes238
Edges237
Triples86
Avg. degree1.99
Density0.008403
Components1

Source & methodology

TTTA analyzes the structure around GNU General Public License to surface related topics, entities, relationships, concept neighborhoods and bridge connections. Use the map to explore areas such as History & Works, including less central topics that may reveal useful research gaps. Automatically extracted connections are research leads rather than rewritten encyclopedia content.

Source: Wikipedia — GNU General Public License · EN edition · Analysis: TopicsToTalkAbout

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