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The GNU General Public License (GPL) governs the distribution and modification of software, allowing it to be freely modified and redistributed while maintaining the GPL. It can also be used for other media, and a separate license exists for written works called the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).
GNU’s Not Unix® (GNU) project was originally intended to create a free operating system, and the GNU General Public License (GPL) was created to govern how distribution and modification of software would be handled. This license is also known as a copyleft license, as it differs from a standard copyright in many ways. The license itself may be distributed and used free of charge, although modifications may not be permitted. Some of the main points of the GNU General Public License are that software released under it can be freely modified and redistributed, and that software distributed this way must maintain the GPL. The GNU GPL was originally created by Richard Stallman and administered by the non-profit Free Software Foundation (FSF).
Software distributed using the GNU General Public License may be sold or offered free, provided the terms of the license are followed. The freedom referred to in the name Free Software Foundation is related to freedom of information, not price. If GPL-licensed software is sold, the resulting source code may be modified by future licensees and then redistributed under an identical license. It is also possible to modify the GPL source code for private use, as the license does not require the release of modifications.
There were three different versions of the GPL published between 1989 and 2007. The first version specifically addressed the issues of binaries and the use of more restrictive licenses. It addressed the former by requiring source code to be distributed alongside binaries if the software is licensed under the GPL, and it addressed more restrictive licenses by stating that modified GNU General Public License software must maintain the GPL. In 1991, the second version made a number of changes, including preventing GPL software from being released in binary form under certain circumstances. A change made to the third version may have sought to prevent certain hardware devices from using GPL software, but it would also have prevented end users from making their own changes.
The GNU General Public License can also be used for things other than software, as long as the license is respected. It may be possible to release text or other media under the GPL, although the GNU Project has also created a different license specifically for this purpose. The GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) was created specifically to apply to written works, although some may still choose to use the GPL. A GFDL license may preclude any text licensed by it from being included in software that uses the GPL, which might provide a reason to use the GPL instead.
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