View source for Netscape Public License

{{Short description|Free software license}}
{{ infobox software license
| name            = Netscape Public License
| author          = Netscape
| version         = 1.1
| copyright       = Netscape
| date            = ?
| OSI approved    = No
| Debian approved = ?
| Free Software   = Yes<ref name=FSF/>
| GPL compatible  = No<ref name=FSF>{{cite web
                        |title=Netscape Public License (NPL)
                        |work=Various Licenses and Comments about Them
                        |publisher=Free Software Foundation
                        |url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#NPL
                        |accessdate=May 23, 2013
                      }}</ref>
| copyleft        = Limited<ref name=FSF/>
| linking         = Yes
}}

The '''Netscape Public License''' (NPL) is a [[Free software license|free software license]], the license under which Netscape Communications Corporation originally released Mozilla.

Its most notable feature is that it gives the original developer of Mozilla (Netscape, now a subsidiary of AOL), the right to distribute modifications made by other contributors under whatever terms it desires, including [[Proprietary software|proprietary]] terms, without granting similar rights to these other contributors in respect to contributions made by the original developer.  This allowed the release of the [[Software:Netscape (web browser)|Netscape]] 6 and later versions as proprietary software.

This asymmetry with respect to rights has led to criticism of the license by many members of the open source and [[Free software|free software]] movements: the [[Organization:Free Software Foundation|Free Software Foundation]] acknowledged it as a free-software license but one to be avoided,<ref name=FSF /> and the [[Organization:Open Source Initiative|Open Source Initiative]] either rejected it entirely or was not asked to review it.<ref name=OSI>{{cite web|title=Licenses by Name <nowiki>|</nowiki> Open Source Initiative|publisher=Open Source Initiative|url=http://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical|accessdate=2014-08-27}}</ref> The FSF adds that it's not possible to combine software obtained under the license with software obtained under the [[Software:GNU General Public License|GPL]].<ref>[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/netscape-npl.html On the Netscape Public License] by Richard Stallman on GNU.org</ref>

The [[Software:Mozilla Public License|Mozilla Public License]] version 1.1 is similar (and has limited "file-level [[Copyleft|copyleft]]"), but lacks the asymmetry in rights. Time Warner, exercising its rights under the Netscape Public License, and at the request of the Mozilla Foundation, relicensed<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mozilla.org/MPL/relicensing-faq.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513062601/http://www-archive.mozilla.org/MPL/relicensing-faq.html |archivedate=2010-05-13 |date= |title=Mozilla Relicensing FAQ Version 1.1 |publisher=mozilla.org |quote=''Some time ago mozilla.org announced its intent to seek relicensing of Mozilla code under a new licensing scheme that would address perceived incompatibilities of the Mozilla Public License (MPL) with the GNU General Public License (GPL) and GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).''}}</ref> all code in Mozilla that was under the Netscape Public License (including code by other contributors) to an MPL 1.1/GPL 2.0/[[Software:GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL]] 2.1 tri-license, thus removing the GPL-[[License compatibility|incompatibility]].

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.mozilla.org/MPL/NPL/1.1/ Netscape Public License Version 1.1]
*[https://www.mozilla.org/MPL/NPL/1.0/ Netscape Public License Version 1.0]


[[Category:Free and open-source software licenses]]

{{Sourceattribution|Netscape Public License}}