<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
<!-- Parent-Version: 1.86 1.96 -->
<!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html -->
<!--#set var="TAGS" value="essays licensing non-cpleft" -->
<!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" -->
<title>FSF's Opinion on the Apple Public Source License (APSL)
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/apsl.translist" -->
<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.html" -->
<!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE-->
<!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" -->
<div class="article reduced-width">
<h2>FSF's Opinion of the Apple Public Source License (APSL) 2.0</h2>
<div class="thin"></div>

<p>The Apple Public Source License (APSL) version 2.0 qualifies as a free
software license.  Apple's lawyers worked with the FSF to produce a
license that would qualify.
The <a href="/philosophy/historical-apsl.html">problems previously
described on this page</a> are still potential issues for other
possible licenses, but they do not apply to version 2.0 of the APSL.
We encourage everyone who uses any version of Apple Software under the
APSL to use the terms of version 2.0 rather than that of any earlier
license.</p>

<p>In version 2.0 of the APSL, the definition of “Externally
Deployed” has been narrowed in a way that is appropriate for the
respect of users' freedoms.  It has always been the position of FSF
that the freedom of Free Software is primarily for the users of that
software.  Technologies, like web applications, are changing the way
that users interact with software.  The APSL 2.0, like
the <a href="/licenses/agpl.html">GNU Affero GPL</a>, seeks
to defend the freedom of those who use software in these novel ways,
without unduly hindering the users' privacy nor freedom to use the
software.</p>

<p>The FSF now considers the APSL to be a free software license with two
major practical problems, reminiscent of the NPL:</p>

<ul>
<li>It is not a true copyleft, because it allows linking with other files 
    which may be entirely proprietary.</li>

<li>It is incompatible with the GPL.</li>
</ul>

<p>For this reason, we recommend you do not release new software using
this license; but it is ok to use and improve software which other
people release under this license.</p>

<p>Aside from this, we must remember that only part of Mac OS X is being
released under the APSL.  Even though the fatal flaws of the APSL were
fixed, and even if the practical problems were addressed, that does no
good for the other parts of Mac OS X whose source code is not being
released at all.  We must not judge all of a company by just part of what
it does.</p>

<p><a href="http://gnu-darwin.sourceforge.net/index.php">GNU-Darwin</a> is a combination
of GNU and Darwin that is supposed to include only free software.</p>
</div>

</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
<div id="footer"> id="footer" role="contentinfo">
<div class="unprintable">

<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to
<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>.
There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
the FSF.  Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p>

<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
        replace it with the translation of these two:

        We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
        translations.  However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
        Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
        to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org">
        <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p>

        <p>For information on coordinating and submitting contributing translations of
        our web pages, see <a
        href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
        README</a>. -->
Please see the <a
href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting contributing translations
of this article.</p>
</div>

<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
     files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
     be under CC BY-ND 4.0.  Please do NOT change or remove this
     without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first.
     Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the
     document.  For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the
     document was modified, or published.
     
     If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too.
     Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying
     years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable
     year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including
     being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system).
     
     There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
     Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->

<p>Copyright © 1999, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2017, 2018 2003, 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p>

<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative
Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p>

<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->

<p class="unprintable">Updated:
<!-- timestamp start -->
$Date: 2021/09/16 10:03:07 $
<!-- timestamp end -->
</p>
</div>
</div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include -->
</body>
</html>