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Today we will overview the differences between open-source licenses: MIT, Apache and GPL.
First of all, MIT, Apache and GPL licenses are all permissive licenses, meaning: you are free to do whatever you want with a software.
They differ a bit though:
- MIT: "Do whatever you want, even if you want to use the code to create a commercial closed-source software. Though if you start contributing back, it will be nice."
- Apache: "Do whatever you want, like with the MIT license. Still, I will prevent any attempt of creating a patent on the software or litigating"
- GPL: "Do whatever you want, but remember: I'm share-alike. Once you use the code you are to share your software with the same license"
Thus, a specific license signifies our concern about the code:
- MIT - we actually don't bother
- Apache - we don't bother too, but we are big enough (e.g. an organization) to think about preventing litigations
- GPL - we want you to open-source too
Note: ISC (npm's default license) is very similar to MIT