A bittorrent client enables a user to exchange data as a peer in one or more swarms. Spdx license list software package data exchange spdx. It is often nicknamed mainline by developers denoting its official origins. Open sourcing formally closed projects is not how eee works. The content on this website, of which is the author, is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4. The purpose of the spdx license list is to enable easy and efficient identification of such licenses and exceptions in an spdx document, in source files or elsewhere. Bittorrent was the first client written for the protocol. For example, licenses like the gpl apply to the work as a whole, so i just put a copying file at the source root, and then make a note on each source file, as per the fsfs recommendations.
A proprietary application programming interface api is a software library. The source code for versions up to and including 3. Can i use mitlicensed code in closedsource software. An open source license protects contributors and users. The microsoft public license was created in 2008 by this company as one of the opensource licenses created by their shared source initiative. The source is closed for utorrent and has always been. Eclipse developers can simply import it as java project in their workspace. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu project. For the bittorrent tracker software, see opentracker. The spdx license list is a list of commonly found licenses and exceptions used in free and open source and other collaborative software or documentation. Bittorrent simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Free software licenses are losing ground to permissive open. Since your project is closed source, very few people will ever see your code, but it is still a good idea to carefully document which portions are owned by someone else.
Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code. The term licensed product includes all previous modifications from any contributor that you receive. This is the original bsd license, modified by removal of the advertising clause. Thats right, all the lists of alternatives are crowdsourced, and thats what makes the data. The fact that bittorrent is now a rebranded utorrent makes it also closed, even though they closed it a few years back.
Its written completely in javascript the language of the web and uses webrtc for true peertopeer transport. Proprietary software often citation needed stores some of its data in file formats which are incompatible with other software, and may also communicate using protocols which are incompatible. Newly open source bittorrent protocol aims to unclog tubes bittorrent inc. The mit license gives you legal permission to use the code without ever distributing any of. How does gplv3 make bittorrent distribution easier.
Any bittorrent product licensed pursuant to this license. Using open web standards, webtorrent connects website users together to form a. Very early versions released prior to december 30, 2001 were released into the public domain without a license. As a permissive license, it puts only very limited restriction on reuse and has, therefore, an excellent license compatibility. Yes, however the notice and permission notice must be included in the. The main difference is that bsdstyle licenses sometimes contain a clause prohibiting. Xunlei limited is a chinese multinational technology company and an online service provider founded in 2003. Is it really necessary to include some kind of link to the license file to each source file. The district court for the northern district of california recently issued an opinion that is being hailed as a victory for open source software. Why is the original bsd license incompatible with the gpl. The mit license gives you legal permission to use the code without ever distributing any of your source code. Therefore if you are looking for current source to bittorrent utorrent you would be doing so illegally.
In this case, the court denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging violation of an open source software license, pa. Most of the internet users are already aware of bittorrent and how it works. If they merge utorrent nonfree, closed with the older bittorrent 5. May i include parts of mitlicensed code inside my closedsource. The mitlicense is a permissive license which allows sublicensing under new conditions. They allow a user to build commercial software on top of open source software, or extend open source products, and declare their work as proprietary or closed source.
Embrace an open standard, making sure your closed source product is compatible with it. Building a bittorrent client from the ground up in go. Deluge is a fullfeatured bittorrent client for linux, mac os x and windows. The mit license looks like it explictly permits relicensing. The remote control interface for halite has been put on the back burner while the more pressing features that a bittorrent client needs. No browser plugin, extension, or installation is required.
Bittorrent is an adsupported peertopeer program developed by bram cohen and bittorrent, inc. It lets people do almost anything they want with your project, like making and distributing closed source versions. It was created in 2001, and its basically a p2p file sharing protocol. If someone decides to release closedsource modified bsd code. End user license agreement a very tiny bittorrent client. Halite is an opensource bittorrent client and is based on the excellent libtorrent library from rasterbar software. Requires apache with php module, mysql and, bittornado or bittorrent source included. Manage all of your torrent downloads through a convenient web interface from anywhere. I am using a mit licensed module in a closed source consumer. Gpl applies to even lowly patchers and debuggers code, as it does to the 10klines per day guys. Webtorrent is the first torrent client that works in the browser. Questions about the in a license should be directed to.
Their main client app will be closed source, and although the reference implementation will apparently continue to be free, protocol docs require you to acquire a special license. Free software licenses were the dominating open source licenses seven years ago. Nonjudgmental guidance on choosing a license for your open source project. For distributing binaries, your vague reference to the mit license. You generally can have either open source or a great product.
Newly open source bittorrent protocol aims to unclog tubes. Such formats and protocols may be restricted as trade secrets or subject to patents. It just means they cant legally stop you getting a bittorrent copy, though wga is still fair game. A few years ago, these moves would have tightened bittorrent incs grip on the world of bt clients in general. Learn more about using shortform license identifiers in your source code. Therefore if you are looking for current source to bittorrentutorrent you would be doing so illegally. Even though there are literally loads of clients that can provide you with bittorrent, but even so, weve. Lawrence berkeley national labs bsd variant license, bsd3clauselbnl, y, license text. If you want an open source chat client, go and get one. This allows you to put mitlicensed software into a proprietary product. Though the mit x11 license gives you the right to reuse in full or partly, modified or unaltered a piece of sofware licensed that way, and to redistribute it in both commercial or noncommercial forms, closedsource or opensource, you are not allowed to claim that that specific piece of code is yours. Basically, you can do whatever you want as long as you include the original and license notice in any copy of the softwaresource. The subsidiary of xunlei limited, shenzhen xunlei networking technologies, co.
The mit license, line by line171 words every programmer should understand. Hi, for a while now i have been using bittorrent over any other torrent downloader and have been downloading torrent for a while, until a few days ago it wont open, it wont uninstall and it can make my pc run super laggyany help from you guys. Various licenses and comments about them gnu project free. Bitpower free and opensource java bittorrent client. Why include the license in source code files if by being a closedsource project means you are not distributing the source code files. Anyone can take a mit licensed software library, modify it and. This has driven much higher adoption of this second category mit s permissive license is used on 51% of github projects. The site is made by ola and markus in sweden, with a lot of help from our friends and colleagues in italy, finland, usa, colombia, philippines, france and contributors from all over the world. The mit license is a permissive free software license originating at the massachusetts institute of technology. Source code and needed libraries are available in the installation file. See first paragraph of license and section 2 licensor. Opentracker is the opensource version of the tracker file manager for beoscompatible.
The mit license is a very liberal software license that was originally developed at the massachusetts institute of technology it is similar to the bsd license, which was first used for the berkeley source distribution, a version of unix that was developed at the university of california at berkeley ucb. It can be used for sharing large amounts of data online, and theres no need for that data to be stored on any centralized servers. What permissive licenses mit, bsd, apache allow is for developers to build on top of open source code but then release proprietary, closedsource applications, not giving to their users the same freedom they as developers had in choosing libraries. May i include parts of mitlicensed code inside my closed. The following is a general comparison of bittorrent clients, which are computer programs designed for peertopeer file sharing using the bittorrent protocol the bittorrent protocol coordinates segmented file transfer among peers connected in a swarm. The mit license is the most popular opensource software license.
It is implemented on top of udp to be crossplatform and functional today. There is not copyleft provision in the mit license. Does the gpl require that source code of modified versions be posted to the public. On the other hand, if i release code under a bsd or mit license or something similar, i usually dont bother with a separate license file, and just put the license. Mit license expat explained in plain english tldrlegal. You can even change mitlicensed code and then distribute it with the restriction that it must not be redistributed.