Different types of software licenses

Software licenses are legal agreements that dictate how software can be used, modified, and distributed. They fall into several categories, including proprietary, open source, and freeware licenses. Proprietary licenses are characterized by strict control over the software’s use and distribution, often requiring payment, and typically don’t provide access to the source code. On the other hand, open source licenses can be more permissive, allowing access to the source code, modification, and redistribution, often free of charge. They can further be categorized into permissive licenses such as MIT and Apache, which have minimal restrictions, and copyleft licenses such as GPL and LGPL, which require any derivative work to be distributed under the same open source terms. Freeware licenses allow users to use software for free, but like proprietary software, the source code is not provided, and modifications are not allowed.

Each license...