Python License
Software license
title: "Python License" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["python-(programming-language)", "free-and-open-source-software-licenses", "permissive-software-licenses"] description: "Software license" topic_path: "general/python-programming-language" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_License" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Software license ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software license"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Python License |
| author | Corporation for National Research Initiatives |
| version | 2.11 and newer |
| OSI approved | Yes |
| Free Software | Yes |
| GPL compatible | Some versions |
| copyleft | No |
| :: |
| name = Python License | image = | caption = | author = Corporation for National Research Initiatives | version = 2.11 and newer | copyright = | date = | OSI approved = Yes | Debian approved = | Free Software = Yes | GPL compatible = Some versions | copyleft = No | linking =
The Python License is a deprecated permissive computer software license created by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI). It was used for versions 1.6 and 2.0 of the Python programming language, both released in the year 2000.
The Python License is similar to the BSD License and, while it is a free software license, its wording in some versions meant that it was incompatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL) used by a great deal of free software including the Linux kernel. For this reason CNRI retired the license in 2001, and the license of current releases is the Python Software Foundation License.
Origin
Python was created by Guido van Rossum and the initial copyright was held by his employer, the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI). During this time Python was distributed under a GPL-compatible variant of the Historical Permission Notice and Disclaimer license.{{cite web |url=https://www.python.org/download/releases/2.5/license |title=Python 2.5 license (with historical notes) |publisher=Python.org |access-date=2008-03-31
Retirement
The Python License includes a clause stating that the license is governed by the State of Virginia, United States. The Python Software Foundation License; Python 1.6.1 differs from Python 1.6 only in some minor bug fixes and new GPL-compatible licensing terms.
References
References
- "License of Python 1.6a2 and earlier versions". Free Software Foundation}}
{{cite web. - [https://docs.python.org/3/license.html History and License] Python
- "Python 3.3.4 license".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::