The Mozilla Public License (MPL) is an open SOURCE license and by the company Netscape 1998 for the code release of the Netscape Communicator 5 planned at that time was developed. Version 1.0 was sketched Mitchell Baker, when it worked as a lawyer for Netscape, and version 1.1 by the Mozilla Foundation by.

Their main field of deployment is the Lizenzierung of the Mozilla Webbrowsers and associated software. It in the meantime adapted by others for their software, so e.g. of Sun Microsystems than Common development and distribution License for OpenSolaris.

The MPL is considered to license as "„weak Copyleft "“- and is roughly said a compromise between the GNU general Public License and the BSD license. In principle changed or copied source text files must further under the MPL remain, may however together with code for a program be used. Thus a version can be published by under the MPL standing open SOURCE programs - for example the Netscape navigator in the versions 6 and 7, who is a version of the appropriate releases of the Mozilla Suite. The MPL does not have a viralen character like the GPL thus.

Comment of the Free software Foundation

This is a license for free software, which no strict Copyleft represents; Differently than the X11-Lizenz it contains some complex restrictions, which make it incompatible the GNU GPL. That means, by GPL a licensed and a module licensed by MPL cannot be linked legally with one another. We remind you not to use the MPL for such purposes.

However the MPL 1,1 contains a regulation (section 13), it permitted to leave for a program (or parts) also the choice another license. If a part of a program permits the GNU GPL, or another GPL compatible license, than alternative, this part of the program has a GPL compatible license.

Related links

• Mozilla Public License 1,1 (English)
• (Annotated) Mozilla Public License 1.1. (English)
• MPL FAQ (English)

Articles in category "Mozilla Public License"

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Related Websites

We found here 3 related websites.

• Mozilla and Netscape Public Licenses
  Preformatted versions of the MPL v1.1 boilerplate text. ... The Mozilla Public License, version 1.0. The original version of the MPL. ...


• Mozilla Public License version 1.1
  If you do not delete the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of this file under either the MPL or the [___] License." ...


• Netscape: Mozilla Public License (MozPL) version 1.0
  ``The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.0 ... You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ ...