GNU General Public License
series of free software licenses
The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses. The GPL is a copyleft license, which means that it guarantees end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software, but if you distribute a derivative work or modification, you must provide the source code to those recipients under the same or equivalent license terms — there is no requirement to publish anything to the public at large. The GPL was the first copyleft license available for general use. It was originally written by Richard Stallman, the founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), for the GNU Project. The license grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the Free Software Definition. The GPL states more obligations on redistribution than the GNU Lesser General Public License and differs significantly from widely used permissive software licenses such as BSD, MIT, and Apache.
Historically, the GPL license family has been one of the most popular software licenses in the free and open-source software (FOSS) domain. Prominent free software programs licensed under the GPL include the Linux operating system kernel and the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). David A. Wheeler argues that the copyleft provided by the GPL was crucial to the success of Linux-based systems, giving the contributing programmers some assurance that their work would benefit the world and remain free, rather than being potentially exploited by software companies who would not be required to contribute to the community.
In 2007, the third version of the license (GPLv3) was released to address perceived shortcomings in the second version (GPLv2) that had become apparent through long-term use.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “GNU General Public License” is series of free software licenses. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through General, Public and License, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “series of free software licenses” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7603. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2007.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “GNU General Public License”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow GNU General Public License primary sources, GNU General Public License archive and General research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “GNU General Public License”?
- Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
- Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “GNU General Public License” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.