What is the open source licensing model?
Open source software is often distributed under an agreement such as the GNU Public License (GPL), Lesser/Library GNU (LGPL), Mozilla Public License, Berkeley Software Distribution License (BSD), Apache Software License, and Creative Commons License. All strive in some way to keep development in the public domain. These licenses have many variations that allow people to use the code, change it, and distribute changed copies. Usually the licenses do not allow users to copyright the changed code or to prevent others from using it. Users must read and accept the license agreement when they download and install the software.
