010-160 · Question #56
Which of the following is a requirement of the GPL license but not the BSD license?
The correct answer is A. Users who modify and distribute the software under the GPL license, must make the modifications they made, available to the recipients under the same license. The GPL's copyleft (share-alike) clause requires derivative works to be distributed under the same GPL license, a requirement absent from the BSD license.
Question
Options
- AUsers who modify and distribute the software under the GPL license, must make the modifications they made, available to the recipients under the same license.
- BThe GPL license forbids the removal of copyright and license notices from source code files that are distributed.
- CThe GPL license contains a disclaimer of warranty requiring users not to hold the software authors liable for any damages.
- DThe GPL license requires that any legal disputes be settled with the mediation of the Free Software Foundation.
How the community answered
(56 responses)- A91% (51)
- B2% (1)
- C4% (2)
- D4% (2)
Why each option
The GPL's copyleft (share-alike) clause requires derivative works to be distributed under the same GPL license, a requirement absent from the BSD license.
This describes the GPL's copyleft provision - any modifications distributed to recipients must also be released under the GPL, ensuring the freedoms propagate downstream. The BSD license is permissive and places no such restriction, allowing modified versions to be distributed under different or proprietary licenses.
Both the GPL and BSD licenses require that existing copyright and license notices be retained in distributed source files - this is not unique to GPL.
Disclaimers of warranty are present in both the GPL and BSD licenses - neither license holds authors liable for damages by default.
The GPL does not contain any provision requiring FSF mediation of legal disputes - dispute resolution is handled by ordinary legal systems.
Concept tested: GPL copyleft vs BSD permissive license differences
Source: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html
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