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 (http://www.my-opensource.org/Artistic.txt)} 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 (http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/perens.html)}]. (1999-11-28)
