The GNU Affero General Public License (GNU AGPL) is a free,

copyleft Copyleft is the legal technique of granting certain freedoms over copies of copyrighted works with the requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative works. In this sense, ''freedoms'' refers to the use of the work for any purpose, ...

license published by the

Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)#501(c)(3), 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed ...

in November 2007, and based on the GNU General Public License, version 3 and the

Affero General Public License The Affero General Public License (Affero GPL and informally Affero License) is a free software license. The first version of the Affero General Public License (AGPLv1), was published by Affero, Inc. in March 2002, and based on the GNU General Pu ...

. The Free Software Foundation has recommended that the GNU AGPLv3 be considered for any software that will commonly be run over a network.List of free-software licences on the FSF website
"''We recommend that developers consider using the GNU AGPL for any software which will commonly be run over a network.''" The Free Software Foundation explains the need for the license in the case when a free program is run on a server:

The GNU Affero General Public License is a modified version of the ordinary GNU GPL version 3. It has one added requirement: if you run a modified program on a server and let other users communicate with it there, your server must also allow them to download the source code corresponding to the modified version running there. The purpose of the GNU Affero GPL is to prevent a problem that affects developers of free programs that are often used on servers.

The

Open Source Initiative The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is the steward of the Open Source Definition, the set of rules that define open source software. It is a California public-benefit nonprofit corporation,_with_501(c)(3).html" ;"title="110. - 6910./ref> is a type o ...

approved the GNU AGPLv3 as an

open source license An open-source license is a type of license for computer software and other products that allows the source code, blueprint or design to be used, modified and/or shared under defined terms and conditions. This allows end users and commercial compa ...

in March 2008 after the company Funambol submitted it for consideration through its CEO

Fabrizio Capobianco Fabrizio Capobianco (born December 2, 1970) is an Italian serial entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley. He currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer at Minerva Networks. He was the founder and CEO of the sports social network TOK.tv and he also ...

Compatibility with the GPL

GNU AGPLv3 and GPLv3 licenses each include clauses (in section 13 of each license) that together achieve a form of mutual compatibility for the two licenses. These clauses explicitly allow the " conveying" of a work formed by linking code licensed under the one license against code licensed under the other license, despite the licenses otherwise not allowing relicensing under the terms of each other.List of free-software licences on the FSF website
"''We recommend that developers consider using the GNU AGPL for any software which will commonly be run over a network.''" In this way, the copyleft of each license is relaxed to allow distributing such combinations.

Examples of applications under GNU AGPL

Stet was the first software system known to be released under the GNU AGPL, on November 21, 2007, and is the only known program to be used mainly for the production of its own license.

Flask Flask may refer to: Container * Hip flask, a small container used to carry a small amount of liquid * Laboratory flask, laboratory glassware for holding larger volumes than simple test tubes ** Erlenmeyer flask, a common laboratory flask wit ...

developer

Armin Ronacher Armin Ronacher (born 10 May 1989) is an Austrian open source software programmer and the creator of the Flask web framework for Python. He is a frequent speaker at developer conferences and has a popular blog about software development and open ...

noted in 2013 that the GNU AGPL is a "terrible success, especially among the startup community" as a "vehicle for dual commercial licensing", and gave Humhub,

MongoDB MongoDB is a source-available cross-platform document-oriented database program. Classified as a NoSQL database program, MongoDB uses JSON-like documents with optional schemas. MongoDB is developed by MongoDB Inc. and licensed under the Serve ...

Odoo Odoo is a suite of business management software tools including, for example, CRM, e-commerce, billing, accounting, manufacturing, warehouse, project management, and inventory management. During Odoo experience which took place in Belgium i ...

, RethinkDB,

Shinken is a Japanese sword that has a forged and sharpened blade. The term ''shinken'' is often used in contrast with ''bokken'' (wooden sword), '' shinai'' (bamboo sword), and iaitō (unsharpened metal sword). Shinken are often used in battōdō, ...

Slic3r Slic3r is free software 3D slicing engine for 3D printers. It generates G-code from 3D CAD files (STL or OBJ). Once finished, an appropriate G-code file for the production of the 3D modeled part or object is sent to the 3D printer for the manu ...

SugarCRM SugarCRM is a software company based in Silicon Valley. It produces the on-premises and cloud-based web application Sugar, a customer relationship management (CRM) system. SugarCRM's functionality includes sales-force automation, marketing cam ...

, and

WURFL WURFL (Wireless Universal Resource FiLe) is a set of proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs) and an XML configuration file which contains information about device capabilities and features for a variety of mobile devices, focused ...

as examples. MongoDB dropped the AGPL in late-2018 in favor of the "

Server Side Public License The Server Side Public License (SSPL) is a source-available software license introduced by MongoDB Inc. in 2018. It includes most of the text and provisions of the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 (AGPL v3), and primarily replaces se ...

" (SSPL), a variation of GPLv3 that requires those who provide "the program as a service", accessible to third-parties, to make the entire source code of all software used to facilitate the service available under the same license. The SSPL has been rejected by the

and banned by both

Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...

and the

Fedora Project The Fedora Project is an independent project to co-ordinate the development of Fedora Linux, a Linux-based operating system, operating with the vision of "''a world where everyone benefits from free and open source software built by inclusive, w ...

, who state that the license's intent is to discriminate against cloud computing providers offering services based on the software without purchasing its commercial license.

References

External links

* for GNU Affero General Public License (GNU AGPL). * * also includes info on version 2 of the Affero GPL. * {{Free Software Foundation Free Software Foundation Free and open-source software licenses Copyleft software licenses

Compatibility with the GPL

Examples of applications under GNU AGPL

See also

References

External links