the.com/gpl
Open source's most idealistic legal agreement: free software that stays free, forever.
means The GNU General Public License—a software license requiring anyone who distributes code (or modified versions) to share it freely under the same terms, preventing proprietary lockdown.
from Created in 1989 by Richard Stallman for the GNU project, born from frustration that free software kept getting privatized. It weaponizes copyright law against itself—using legal restrictions to enforce freedom rather than restrict it.
copyleft teethModified versions must be released under GPL too—freedom breeds freedom
Linux backboneThe Linux kernel runs under GPL; largest coordinated open software project ever
commercial mythGPL code can be sold for money; license is about access, not price
version warsGPLv2 vs v3 split over DRM, patents, and who controls restrictions