The zlib license is a
permissive software license
A permissive software license, sometimes also called BSD-like or BSD-style license, is a free-software license which instead of copyleft protections, carries only minimal restrictions on how the software can be used, modified, and redistributed, ...
which defines the terms under which the
zlib
zlib ( or "zeta-lib", ) is a software library used for data compression as well as a data format. zlib was written by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler and is an abstraction of the DEFLATE compression algorithm used in their gzip file compre ...
software library
In computing, a library is a collection of resources that can be leveraged during software development to implement a computer program. Commonly, a library consists of executable code such as compiled functions and classes, or a library can ...
can be distributed. It is also used by many other
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
packages. The
libpng library uses a similar license, libpng license, sometimes referred interchangeably as ''zlib/libpng license''.
The zlib license has been approved by the
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985. The organisation supports the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed ...
(FSF) as a
free software license
A free-software license is a notice that grants the recipient of a piece of software extensive rights to modify and redistribute that software. These actions are usually prohibited by copyright law, but the rights-holder (usually the author) ...
,
and by the
Open Source Initiative
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a California public benefit corporation "actively involved in Open Source community-building, education, and public advocacy to promote awareness and the importance of non-proprietary software".
Governance
The ...
(OSI) as an
open source license.
It is
compatible with the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...
.
Terms
The license only has the following points to be accounted for:
* Software is used on 'as-is' basis. Authors are not liable for any damages arising from its use.
* The distribution of a modified version of the software is subject to the following restrictions:
*# The authorship of the original software must not be misrepresented,
*# Altered source versions must not be misrepresented as being the original software, and
*# The license notice must not be removed from source distributions.
The license does not require
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer.
Since a computer, at base, only ...
to be made available if distributing binary code.
Text
The license terms are as follows:
See also
*
Comparison of free and open-source software licenses
This comparison only covers software licenses which have a linked Wikipedia article for details and which are approved by at least one of the following expert groups: the Free Software Foundation, the Open Source Initiative, the Debian Project and ...
*
Software using the zlib license (category)
References
External links
License text on the zlib homepage
Free and open-source software licenses
Permissive software licenses
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