Choosing a license

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 title: Choosing a license
 weight: 3
 ---
+
+Choosing a license is an important part of publishing your free software
+projects. There are many to choose from, and each has different trade-offs and
+implications for your project's future. It can be difficult to change the
+license later, so you should consider it carefully at the start.
+
+Here are a few widely used free software licenses we recommend, and why you
+might choose them.
+
+{{< tip >}}
+Once you pick a license, include it when sharing your software. The easiest
+way to do this is to copy the plain-text version into a file called "COPYING" in
+your source code repository. For more complex scenarios, we recommend the
+[REUSE][0] approach.
+
+[0]: https://reuse.software/
+{{< /tip >}}
+
+## Copyleft licenses
+
+Copyleft licenses are useful for ensuring that your software remains free. The
+use of copyleft requires anyone who makes improvements to your software to
+publish them under the same copyleft license, which ensures that you can
+incorporate their improvements back into your version. For more details, see
+[What is copyleft?](/learn/copyleft/)
+
+{{< block "grid-2" >}}
+
+{{< column "pros" >}}
+
+### Advantages
+
+* Ensures your software remains free
+* Encourages community contributions
+* Promotes free software generally
+
+{{< /column >}}
+
+{{< column "cons" >}}
+
+### Disadvantages
+
+* Less attractive to businesses
+* Must consider license compatibility for reuse
+
+{{< /column >}}
+
+{{< /block >}}
+
+### Recommended copyleft licenses
+
+| License | Use it for... | Copyleft approach |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| [Mozilla Public License 2.0] | Libraries (allows <abbr title="The practice of copying library files directly into another project instead of linking them separately">vendoring</abbr>) | File-based |
+| [GNU Lesser General Public License] | Libraries (disallows vendoring) | Object-based |
+| [GNU General Public License] | Executable programs | Executable-based |
+| [GNU Affero General Public License] | Networked services | Network-based |
+
+[Mozilla Public License 2.0]: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/MPL/2.0/
+[GNU Lesser General Public License]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.en.html
+[GNU General Public License]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html
+[GNU Affero General Public License]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html
+
+## Permissive licenses
+
+Permissive licenses impose relatively few obligations on the receipient of your
+software. These licenses permit the software to be freely re-used and integrated
+into any other software project, including non-free software. It can be useful
+for projects which target commercial use or widespread adoption.
+
+{{< block "grid-2" >}}
+
+{{< column "pros" >}}
+
+### Advantages
+
+* Permits easy re-use
+* Encourages widespread adoption
+* Attractive to business users
+
+{{< /column >}}
+
+{{< column "cons" >}}
+
+### Disadvantages
+
+* Can be incorporated into non-free works
+* Discourages community contributions
+
+{{< /column >}}
+
+{{< /block >}}
+
+### Recommended permissive licenses
+
+We recommend the following permissive licenses:
+
+* [MIT license](https://mit-license.org/)
+* [BSD 3-clause license](https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/)
+
+## Recommended for businesses
+
+For businesses publishing free software, it may be desirable to use a
+permissive-style license which includes considerations for trademark and patent
+rights. For this purpose we recommend the [Apache 2.0 license].
+
+[Apache 2.0 license]: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
+
+## Public domain
+
+Publishers who wish to enter their software into the public domain should note
+that a simple public domain dedication is not sufficient for international use.
+We recommend the following licenses, which provide public-domain-equivalent
+legal rights in a manner compatible with international laws:
+
+* [Creative Commons 0](https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/)
+* [Unlicense](https://unlicense.org/)
+
+## Licenses for other situations
+
+We have a separate page recommending licenses for non-software assets, such as
+multimedia:
+
+[Licensing non-software assets](/learn/participate/assets/)