Open Source License Data
Black Duck Software has compiled a comprehensive KnowledgeBase of open source components, used to identify and provide information about the content of software and associated licenses. Each day we extract related license information and present the data below.
Top 20 Most Commonly Used Licenses in Open Source Projects
The table below illustrates the top 20 licenses that are used in open source projects, according to the KnowledgeBase. This data is updated daily.
Please click on a license name for more information.
| Rank | License | % |
| 1. | GNU General Public License (GPL) 2.0 | 40.78% |
| 2. | MIT License | 11.61% |
| 3. | Artistic License (Perl) | 7.72% |
| 4. | GNU General Public License (GPL) 3.0 | 7.65% |
| 5. | BSD License 2.0 | 6.88% |
| 6. | GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) 2.1 | 6.57% |
| 7. | Apache License 2.0 | 6.29% |
| 8. | Code Project Open 1.02 License | 1.95% |
| 9. | Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL) | 1.80% |
| 10. | GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) 3.0 | 1.35% |
| 11. | Mozilla Public License (MPL) 1.1 | 1.06% |
| 12. | Eclipse Public License (EPL) | 0.86% |
| 13. | Common Public License (CPL) | 0.38% |
| 14. | BSD Two Clause License | 0.34% |
| 15. | zlib/libpng License | 0.33% |
| 16. | Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) | 0.32% |
| 17. | Academic Free License | 0.29% |
| 18. | Open Software License (OSL) | 0.20% |
| 19. | Microsoft Reciprocal License (Ms-RL) | 0.20% |
| 20. | Ruby License | 0.18% |
GPLv3, LGPLv3 and AGPLv3 Adoption Rates
The table below depicts the number of projects that are using GPLv3, LGPLv3 and AGPLv3 today (Released). The numbers depicted are accumulated month to month. The data is updated daily and the current month's statistics are to date only.
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Most recent Projects To Convert to GPLv3, LGPLv3 or AGPLv3
This table highlights the 10 most recent projects to be converted to GPLv3, LGPLv3 or AGPLv3 and is updated daily.
| Project Name | Project Version | Project License |
| bangumiworks | trunk-20120515-svn | GNU Lesser GPL |
| clearcase-cpan | 1.00 | GNU GPL v3 |
| Barista - an Objective Caml library | 2.0-alpha3 | GNU General Public License V3 or later |
| ChibiOS/RT free embedded RTOS | 2.4.1 | GNU General Public License version 3.0 (GPLv3) |
| a-cake | trunk-20120511-svn | GNU Lesser GPL |
| simulationcraft | Unknown | GNU GPL v3 |
| 10gen | 2.0.5 | GNU Affero GPL v3 |
| eid-idp | 1.0.1.Beta5-svn | GNU Lesser GPL |
| android-smspopup | v1.2.4 | GNU GPL v3 |
| fosteamlotusengine | trunk-20120506-svn | GNU Lesser GPL |
What are the GPLv3 and LGPLv3 licenses?
On Friday June 29th 2007, the Free Software Foundation announced the release of GPL (General Public License), version 3. This much anticipated version is the sequel to the commonly used GPLv2.
GPLv3, like GPLv2, is a copyleft license. Copyleft essentially achieves the opposite of copyright in that copyleft supports access to source code and not the protection of code as private property. At the heart of a copyleft license is the reciprocity obligation. Reciprocity means that, if you create a work "based on” GPL’d software and you distribute the resulting work, then you have to distribute the resulting work under the GPL. In other words, you are required to give the user the source code for the work and all of the rights to modify and distribute the code that you received under the GPL.
LGPLv3, the “Lesser General Public License” contains the same terms as the GPLv3, but gives additional permissions to those who wish to re-distribute code. The LGPLv3 is designed to allow the combination of Copyleft code with non-Copyleft code in certain situations.
What is the Affero license (AGPL)?
The GNU Affero General Public License version 3 (GNU AGPLv3) extends the GPLv3 license by giving end-users access to the source code for software accessed over a network.
When GPL and AGPLv3 code is combined for use over a network (e.g. in a website), all the combined source code must now be made available to its end-users, allowing them to make modifications to the code. This new license is important for companies that offer web-based solutions and also for organizations that provide software for their clients to use over the web (such as online banking software).