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GNU General Public License

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…

History & Works

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Research this topic

Explore the main themes, entities and connections around GNU General Public License. Start with the topic map, then use the sections below for research and deeper semantic analysis.

Explore this topic

Start with a few of the strongest sections from the source topic. These are research directions, not a list of keywords you must use.

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

Topics to explore

Browse the full topic structure. 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.

Map overview Semantic statistics

GNU General Public License

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

How this topic connects Entity context

See the strongest relationship patterns around the current topic before diving into the raw triples.

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 Word statistics

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

Entity relationships Subject–Predicate–Object triples

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

These clusters group vocabulary that occurs around closely connected concepts in the source material.

    Connections between topic areas Semantic bridges

    Bridges can reveal useful research angles that are easy to miss in a flat list of related terms.

    Min side: 3
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