GNU Affero General Public License

Short description: Free software license based on the AGPLv1 and GPLv3

GNU Affero General Public License

Author| Free Software Foundation
Latest version| 3
Publisher| Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Published| November 19, 2007
DFSG compatible| Yes[1]
FSF approved| Yes[2]
OSI approved| Yes[3][4]
GPL compatible| Yes (permits linking with GPLv3)[5]
Copyleft| Yes[2] Network-Based
Linking from code with a different license| Only with GPLv3; AGPL terms will apply for the AGPL part in a combined work.[2][5]
Website| {{{1}}}

The GNU Affero General Public License (GNU AGPL) is a free, copyleft license published by the Free Software Foundation in November 2007, and based on the GNU GPL version 3 and the Affero General Public License.

It is intended for software designed to be run over a network, adding a provision requiring that the corresponding source code of modified versions of the software be prominently offered to all users who interact with the software over a network.[6]

The Open Source Initiative approved the GNU AGPLv3[3] as an open source license in March 2008 after the company Funambol submitted it for consideration through its CEO Fabrizio Capobianco.[7]

## Contents

* 1 Compatibility with the GPL
* 2 Examples of applications under GNU AGPL
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Compatibility with the GPL

GNU AGPLv3 and GPLv3 licenses each include clauses (in section 13 of each license) that together achieve a form of mutual compatibility for the two licenses. These clauses explicitly allow the "conveying" of a work formed by linking code licensed under the one license against code licensed under the other license,[8] despite the licenses otherwise not allowing relicensing under the terms of each other.[2] In this way, the copyleft of each license is relaxed to allow distributing such combinations.[2]

## Examples of applications under GNU AGPL

Flask developer Armin Ronacher noted in 2013 that the GNU AGPL is a "terrible success, especially among the startup community" as a "vehicle for dual commercial licensing", and gave Humhub, MongoDB, Odoo, RethinkDB, Shinken, Slic3r, SugarCRM, and WURFL as examples.[9]

MongoDB dropped the AGPL in late-2018 in favor of the "Server Side Public License" (SSPL), a modified version which requires those who offer the licensed software as a service accessible to third-parties, to make the entire source code of all software used to facilitate the service (including without limitation all "management software, user interfaces, application program interfaces, automation software, monitoring software, backup software, storage software and hosting software, all such that a user could run an instance of the service using the Service Source Code you make available") available under the same license.[10] As approval for this license by the Open Source Initiative was not forthcoming the application for certification was withdrawn. It was banned by both Debian and the Fedora Project, who state that the license's intent is to discriminate against cloud computing providers offering services based on the software without purchasing its commercial license.[11][12]

## See also

## References

1. ↑ Jaspert, Joerg (November 28, 2008). "ftp.debian.org: Is AGPLv3 DFSG-free?". The Debian Project. https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?msg=17;bug=495721.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 List of free-software licences on the FSF website: "We recommend that developers consider using the GNU AGPL for any software which will commonly be run over a network."
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "OSI approved licenses". Open Source initiative. https://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical.
4. ↑ "OSI approved", Licenses, TL;DR legal, https://tldrlegal.com/licenses/tags/OSI-Approved .
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Licenses section 13", GNU AGPLv3, GNU Project, https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html#section13 .
6. ↑ "Why the Affero GPL". https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-affero-gpl.html.
7. ↑ "Funambol Helps New AGPLv3 Open Source License Gain Formal OSI Approval" (Press release). Funambol. Mar 13, 2008. Archived from the original on 2013-06-07.
8. ↑ The GNU General Public License v3 – GNU Project – Free Software Foundation (FSF)
9. ↑ Ronacher, Armin (2013-07-23). "Licensing in a Post Copyright World". lucumr.pocoo.org. http://lucumr.pocoo.org/2013/7/23/licensing/. "The AGPLv3 was a terrible success, especially among the startup community that found the perfect base license to make dual licensing with a commercial license feasible. MongoDB, RethinkDB, OpenERP, SugarCRM as well as WURFL all now utilize the AGPLv3 as a vehicle for dual commercial licensing. The AGPLv3 makes that generally easy to accomplish as the original copyright author has the rights to make a commercial license possible but nobody who receives the sourcecode itself through the APLv3 inherits that right. I am not sure if that was the intended use of the license, but that's at least what it's definitely being used for now."
10. ↑ "Server Side Public License (SSPL)" (in en-us). https://www.mongodb.com/licensing/server-side-public-license.
11. ↑ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J.. "MongoDB "open-source" Server Side Public License rejected" (in en). https://www.zdnet.com/article/mongodb-open-source-server-side-public-license-rejected/.
12. ↑ "MongoDB's licensing changes led Red Hat to drop the database from the latest version of its server OS" (in en-US). 2019-01-16. https://www.geekwire.com/2019/mongodbs-licensing-changes-led-red-hat-drop-database-latest-version-server-os/.

## External links

* for GNU Affero General Public License (GNU AGPL).
* Smith, Brett (March 29, 2007), GPLv3 and Software as a Service, https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/2007-03-29-gplv3-saas - also includes info on version 2 of the Affero GPL.

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