Licensing Overview
Source: https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/learn-grow/licensing-overview/ Parent: https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/
In this section
Licensing Overview
Open source software is software with publicly available source code that is licensed to allow use, inspection, modification, and distribution by anyone. Source code is the human-readable instructions that tell a computer what to do. Source code is written in a programming language such as Python, Java, or C++.
An open source license is an intellectual property license and legal agreement that grants users certain rights to use, inspect, distribute, and modify the software. The OSPO has put together a number of resources to help the Hopkins community understand different license types and their implications for a project.
[check_circle
Choose a License](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/licensing-overview/choose-a-license/)
[copyright
Copyrights, Patents, and More](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/licensing-overview/copyright-patents-more/)
[construction
Open Source Hardware](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/licensing-overview/open-source-hardware/)
Learn More
- Choose a License. “Choose an Open Source License.” Accessed September 29, 2023. https://choosealicense.com/.
- “Disseminating Your Open Work.” Accessed December 7, 2023. https://openr.it/best-practices/disseminating.
- “FSF Licensing & Compliance Team — Free Software Foundation — Working Together for Free Software.” Accessed December 7, 2023. https://www.fsf.org/licensing/.
- Morin, Andrew, Jennifer Urban, and Piotr Sliz. “A Quick Guide to Software Licensing for the Scientist-Programmer.” PLOS Computational Biology 8, no. 7 (July 26, 2012): e1002598. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002598.
- Open Source Initiative. “OSI Approved Licenses,” September 16, 2022. https://opensource.org/licenses/.
- Skaife, David. “A Short Guide to Open Source Licenses.” Nationwide Technology (blog), September 16, 2021. https://medium.com/nationwide-technology/a-short-guide-to-open-source-licenses-cf5b1c329edd.