The tools can be in 1 of 4 categories, they do not necessarily need to related directly to Monero, anything included in this section of the site is also available for free submission you’ll need to prove that your software is FOSS for it to be listed with any of the permitted licences under. We do prefer you kindly submit your projects under the following licences:
1. Copyleft Licenses:
These licenses require that derivative works must also be distributed under the same license, preserving the same freedoms for downstream users.
• GNU General Public License (GPL): One of the most influential copyleft licenses. Versions include GPLv2, GPLv3.
• GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL): Similar to the GPL but more permissive for linking with non-GPL code.
• Affero General Public License (AGPL): A copyleft license like the GPL, but also requires source code distribution if the software is used over a network (e.g., web service).
2. Permissive Licenses:
These licenses grant more flexibility. They typically require only that existing notices and disclaimers of warranty be retained. They don’t enforce copyleft conditions.
• MIT License: Short, permissive license commonly used.
• BSD Licenses (2-Clause, 3-Clause): Early permissive licenses originating from the Berkeley Software Distribution.
• Apache License 2.0: Permissive but includes protections against patent litigation and explicitly states contributor grant of patent license.
3. Weakly Copyleft Licenses:
These licenses enforce copyleft on certain parts of the code (e.g., modifications to the licensed files themselves), but allow more permissive use or linking with non-copyleft code.
• Mozilla Public License (MPL): Files modified under MPL stay MPL, but can be combined in larger works with other licenses.
• Eclipse Public License (EPL): Similar in spirit to MPL, often used by the Eclipse community.
4. Other Notable Licenses:
There are numerous other less common or more specialized licenses, for example:
• Artistic License: Used historically by Perl; a somewhat permissive license with conditions.
• Creative Commons Licenses (when applied to software): Typically not recommended for software, but some CC licenses are occasionally seen in software-adjacent content like documentation or media.
• European Union Public License (EUPL): A copyleft license intended for European software projects, compatible with certain other licenses.
