ISC license

ISC license
PublisherInternet Systems Consortium
SPDX identifierISC
Debian FSG compatibleYes[1]
FSF approvedYes[2]
OSI approvedYes[3]
GPL compatibleYes[2]
CopyleftNo[2]
Linking from code with a different licenceYes
Websitewww.isc.org/licenses/ Edit this at Wikidata

The ISC license is a permissive free software license published by the Internet Software Consortium, now called Internet Systems Consortium (ISC). It is functionally equivalent to the simplified BSD and MIT licenses, but without language deemed unnecessary following the Berne Convention.[nb 1][nb 2]

Originally used for ISC software such as BIND and dig, it has become the preferred license for contributions to OpenBSD[6] and the default license for npm packages.[7] The ISC license is also used for Linux wireless drivers contributed by Qualcomm Atheros,[8] as well as by the LV2 plugin system.[9]

  1. ^ "License information". The Debian Project. Software in the Public Interest (published 12 July 2017). 1997–2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017. ... This page presents the opinion of some debian-legal contributors on how certain licenses follow the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). ... Licenses currently found in Debian main include:
    • ...
    • Expat/MIT-style licenses
    • ...
  2. ^ a b c "Various Licenses and Comments about Them". The GNU Project. Free Software Foundation (published 4 April 2017). 2014–2017. ISC License. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017. ... This is a lax, permissive free software license, and compatible with the GNU GPL. ... This license is sometimes also known as the OpenBSD License, although there is one minor difference between the two licenses. The OpenBSD license was updated to remove the ambiguous term: "and/or". ... At the time the ISC license was released, the use of "and/or" construct was a concern because it is similar language used in the license of Pine that the University of Washington later claimed prohibited people from distributing modified versions of the software. ...
  3. ^ "Licenses by Name". Open Source Initiative. n.d. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017. ... The following licenses have been approved by the OSI. ...
    • ...
    • ISC License (ISC)
    • ...
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference openbsd-policy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference theo2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference openbsd-license-template was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference npm-commit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "en/users/Drivers/Atheros - Linux Wireless". linuxwireless.org. Archived from the original on 21 June 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  9. ^ "COPYING · master · LV2 / lv2 · GitLab". gitlab.com. Retrieved 10 August 2023.


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