Rodzaje licencji na oprogramowanie

A software licenselicenselicense is a contract between the producer or distributor of software and a user which specifies the conditions of using the programme. The license usually imposes limitations on the user, of which the most common are the number of computers on which the software may be installed and the number of end‑users of the programme.

Free softwarefree softwareFree software is a computer software that can be run, copied, distributed and modified by users. Such a software is promoted by the Free Software Foundation, which is the main sponsor of the GNU Project. The idea of such a model is the decentralised development of software by the community within open collaboration. In order to ensure the effective development of such a software, its source codes and documentation remain open.

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Logotyp licencji Open Source. Przypomina dziurkę od klucza wyciętą w kole. Poniżej napis: open source initiative oraz duża litera R w okręgu. Jest skrót od słowa registered co oznacza, że dany znak towarowy (czyli nazwa lub logo firmy) został zarejestrowany w odpowiednim Urzędzie Patentowym.

Open Source is the type of a software licenselicenselicense that shares the source codesource codesource code of the programme and allows its modification. Its sharing can be possible under certain conditions, which usually include:

• the publication of the information about the authors of the software in the source code,

• the publication of the copyright statement in the code of the programme,

• the requirement of the distribution of the programme only under the share‑alike license.

Source codesource codeSource code is the code of a computer programme written by programmers in the human‑readable form. Before executing such a programme, the source code must be transformed into object code understood by the processor of the computer. This process is called compilationcompilationcompilation or interpretationinterpretationinterpretation.

The types of software licenses:

• freeware – a license that enables using an application freely. It sometimes imposes additional restrictions. The most common one is limiting the use of the programme to personal purposes only;

• shareware – a license that enables using an application in a limited scope, usually not in its full functionality or for a limited period;

• adware – a license that requires the permission of a user for displaying advertisement;

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Ilustracja przedstawia głowę byka - jest to logo licencji GNU.

• the GNU General Public License – a free softwarefree softwarefree software license. Its aim is to guarantee end users the freedom to run, share and modify the software as well as to distribute its modified versions.

• beta versionbeta versionbeta version – an early version of a programme released for testing, due to which errors can be found,

• demo version – a version of a commercial computer programme of limited functionalitylimited functionalitylimited functionality or limited period of using which is to encourage users to buy a commercial version,

• trial – a licenselicenselicense granted for a limited period (7‑90 days) or sometimes for a set number of runs that enables to try a programme,

• OEM – a license added to hardware; when you update your hardware, you must buy another OEM license,

• MOLP – the programme of licenses offered by Microsoft which allows corporate, academic, charitable, or government organizations to obtain volume licenses for Microsoft products.

The public domain is part of creative works that can be used freely since the economic rights of their authors do not apply to them. Most often those rights have expired or the works were not subject to copyright because of the regulations or the type of licensing. It applies to computer software if the author decides so. In Poland the author cannot waive his or her moral rights and they are unlimited in time.

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Ilustracja przedstawia logo Creative Commons (dwie małe litery c obok siebie w środku okręgu).

Creative Commons (CC) is an American non‑profit organization which supports the expansion of their own copyright licenses, known as Creative Commons licenses, based on which the author of a work shares his or her work under certain conditions.

The legal use of computer software is very important since it demonstrates respect for the rights of other people. Software under open licenses is a good solution. It more and more often matches its comercial counterparts due to the commitment of many people.

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Keywords

beta versionbeta versionbeta version

free softwarefree softwarefree software

licenselicenselicense