In this article we are going to thoroughly analyze and explore everything related to Common Public License. From its origins to its current impact, we will study its evolution over time and how it has influenced different aspects of society. In addition, we will examine the various perspectives and opinions that exist on this topic, in order to obtain a global and complete vision. Common Public License is a topic of great relevance and topicality, so it is essential to understand it in depth to be aware of its impact on today's world.
| Author | IBM |
|---|---|
| Latest version | 1.0 |
| Publisher | IBM |
| Published | May 2001 |
| SPDX identifier | CPL-1.0 |
| Debian FSG compatible | Yes[1] |
| FSF approved | Yes[2] |
| OSI approved | Yes[3] |
| GPL compatible | No[2] |
| Copyleft | Limited[2] |
| Linking from code with a different licence | Yes |
In computing, the Common Public License (CPL) is a free software / open-source software license published by IBM. The Free Software Foundation and Open Source Initiative have approved the license terms of the CPL.
The CPL has the stated aims of supporting and encouraging collaborative open-source development while still retaining the ability to use the CPL'd content with software licensed under other licenses, including many proprietary licenses. The Eclipse Public License (EPL) consists of a slightly modified version of the CPL.
The CPL has some terms that resemble those of the GNU General Public License (GPL), but some key differences exist. A similarity relates to distribution of a modified computer program: under either license (CPL or GPL), one must make the source code of a modified program available to others.
CPL, like the GNU Lesser General Public License, allows non-CPL-licensed software to link to a library under CPL without requiring the linked source code to be made available to the licensee.
CPL lacks compatibility with both versions of the GPL because it has a "choice of law" section in section 7, which restricts legal disputes to a certain court. Another source of incompatibility is the differing copyleft requirements.[2]
To reduce the number of open source licenses, IBM and Eclipse Foundation agreed upon using solely the Eclipse Public License in the future.[4] Open Source Initiative therefore lists the Common Public License as deprecated and superseded by EPL.