Any document that attempts to specify
open source
usage and distribution of software. These licenses are
usually drafted by experts and are likely to be more legally
sound than one a programmer could write. However, loopholes
do exist.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of open source licenses:
1.
Public Domain - No license.
2.
BSD License - An early open source license
3.
General Public License (GPL) - The
copyleft license of
the
Free Software Foundation. Used for
GNU software and
much of
Linux.
4.
Artistic License Less restrictive
than the GPL, permitted by
Perl in addition to the GPL.
5.
Mozilla Public Licenses.
(MPL, MozPL) and Netscape Public License (NPL).
["Open Sources", pub. O'Reilly,
full text].