Educational Community License
Encyclopedia
The Educational Community License (ECL) is a free and open source license based on the Apache license
(version 2.0) and created with the specific needs of the academic community in mind.
Version 2 of the ECL came out of the Licensing and Policy Summit held in October of 2006 in Indianapolis, Indiana
where members of the academic community came together to address the concerns of releasing software written at an academic institution under a free/open source license. Members of the summit included university attorneys, technology transfer
officers, free/open source project leaders, and foundation representatives. In particular, representatives of the Sakai Project
and Kuali Foundation
were in attendance.
ECL version 2 was approved by the Open Source Initiative
in the Summer of 2007, and the Free Software Foundation
lists it as being a "GPL-Compatible Free Software License" that is compatible with version 3 of the GNU General Public License
but not compatible with GPLv2. This means that a software developer can mix code from an ECLv2 licensed project and a GPLv3 licensed project but, due to license terms incompatibility, they are not allowed to mix code from a ECLv2 project and a GPLv2 project.
Apache License
The Apache License is a copyfree free software license authored by the Apache Software Foundation . The Apache License requires preservation of the copyright notice and disclaimer....
(version 2.0) and created with the specific needs of the academic community in mind.
Version 2 of the ECL came out of the Licensing and Policy Summit held in October of 2006 in Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
where members of the academic community came together to address the concerns of releasing software written at an academic institution under a free/open source license. Members of the summit included university attorneys, technology transfer
Technology transfer
Technology Transfer, also called Transfer of Technology and Technology Commercialisation, is the process of skill transferring, knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing, samples of manufacturing and facilities among governments or universities and other institutions to ensure that...
officers, free/open source project leaders, and foundation representatives. In particular, representatives of the Sakai Project
Sakai Project
This page is about the software project, for other meanings, see Sakai.Sakai is a community of academic institutions, commercial organizations and individuals who work together to develop a common Collaboration and Learning Environment...
and Kuali Foundation
Kuali Foundation
The Kuali Foundation is a non-profit, 501 corporation that coordinates the development of free/open source administrative software under the Educational Community License. The name "Kuali" came from the Malaysian word for wok...
were in attendance.
ECL version 2 was approved by the Open Source Initiative
Open Source Initiative
The Open Source Initiative is an organization dedicated to promoting open source software.The organization was founded in February 1998, by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond, prompted by Netscape Communications Corporation publishing the source code for its flagship Netscape Communicator product...
in the Summer of 2007, and the Free Software Foundation
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
lists it as being a "GPL-Compatible Free Software License" that is compatible with version 3 of the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
but not compatible with GPLv2. This means that a software developer can mix code from an ECLv2 licensed project and a GPLv3 licensed project but, due to license terms incompatibility, they are not allowed to mix code from a ECLv2 project and a GPLv2 project.