BSD License

An extremely permissive software license.

• http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php

Basically, it says you can do whatever the hell you like with the code, as long as redistributions preserve the license, and that you can't sue the author if it goes wrong.

The BSD License is so called because it is the license under which the BSD operating system was, and is, distributed. It is the model for licenses of Open Source software; Free Software, on the other hand, is distributed under the GPL. The relative merits of these two licenses, and of the schools of thought to which they are attatched, are often debated, with an intensity and subjectivity which qualifies the debate for the epithet of 'holy war'.

The Twic I source code is under the BSD License (<http://urchin.earth.li/~twic/wiki/code/license.txt>). The exact text of this license (in its first version) is as follows.

Copyright (c) 2003 Tom Anderson
All rights reserved.
 
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
met:
 
- Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 
- Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
 
- Neither the name of Tom Anderson nor the names of his contributors may
be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
without specific prior written permission.
 
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
(NB this is a BSD-style license)

Category Geekery