General public license
legal
(GPL, note US spelling) The licence applied to most software from the Free Software Foundation and the GNU project and other authors who choose to use it.
The licences for most software are designed to prevent users from sharing or changing it. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee the freedom to share and change free software – to make sure the software is free for all its users. The GPL is designed to make sure that anyone can distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if they wish); that they receive source code or can get it if they want; that they can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that they know they can do these things. The GPL forbids anyone to deny others these rights or to ask them to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for those who distribute copies of the software or modify it.
See also General Public Virus.
(1994-10-27)
Read Also:
- General public virus
software, legal A pejorative name for some versions of the GNU project copyleft or General Public License (GPL), which requires that any tools or application programs incorporating copylefted code must be source-distributed on the same terms as GNU code. Thus it is alleged that the copyleft “infects” software generated with GNU tools, which may in […]
- General-purpose
[jen-er-uh l-pur-puh s] /ˈdʒɛn ər əlˈpɜr pəs/ adjective 1. useful in many ways; not limited in use or function: a good general-purpose dictionary. adjective 1. having a range of uses or applications; not restricted to one function
- General purpose graphic language
[“A General Purpose Graphic Language”, H.E. Kulsrud, CACM 11(4) (Apr 1968)].
- General purpose interface bus
IEEE 488
- General purpose language
(GPL) An ALGOL 60 variant with user-definable types and operators. [Sammet 1969, p. 195]. [“The GPL Language”, J.V. Garwick et al, TER-05, CDC, Palo Alto 1969].