Editing Beerware

{{Short description|Permissive software license}}
{{For|glasses for beer|beer glassware}}
{{Infobox software license
| name = Beerware
| image = 
| caption = 
| author = [[Poul-Henning Kamp]]
| version = 42
| copyright = Yes
| date = 1998{{efn|According to the [[Wayback Machine]], the earliest revision of Poul-Henning Kamp's website containing the license is 1998. It is unknown whether this was indeed the first year of the license's publication.<ref>{{web archive|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20010302183711/people.freebsd.org/~phk/|title=Poul-Henning Kamp}}</ref>}}
| OSI approved = No
| Debian approved = Yes
| Free Software = Yes (see "informal license" section)<ref name="fsflist">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#informal|title=Various Licenses and Comments about Them § Informal license|date=2016-01-05|website=www.gnu.org|publisher=[[Free Software Foundation]]|access-date=2016-01-05}}</ref>
| GPL compatible = Yes<ref name="fsflist" />
| copyleft = No<ref name="fsflist" />
| linking = Yes
}}

'''Beerware''' is a [[tongue-in-cheek]] software license with [[Permissive software license|permissive terms]], which grants the right to do anything with the [[source code]], assuming the license notice is preserved.<ref name=":0" />

==Description==
Should the user of the code consider the software useful, they are encouraged to buy the author a [[beer]] "in return" if they ever meet. The [[Sahana FOSS Disaster Management System#Humanitarian-FOSS Community|Humanitarian-FOSS]] project at [[Trinity College (Connecticut)|Trinity College]] recognized the ''"version [[Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life.2C the Universe.2C and Everything .2842.29|42]]"'' beerware license variant as an extremely permissive "copyright only" and GPL-compatible license.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.trincoll.edu/hfoss/wiki/Chris_Fei:_Beerware_License|title=Beerware License|publisher=[[Sahana FOSS Disaster Management System#Humanitarian-FOSS Community|Humanitarian-FOSS]]|quote=The license is compatible with proprietary licenses and the GNU GPL, as code under this license has no restrictions whatsoever.|access-date=2015-04-20|archive-date=2016-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322002352/http://www.cs.trincoll.edu/hfoss/wiki/Chris_Fei:_Beerware_License|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the [[Free Software Foundation]] the license would be classified as an "informal" free, non-copyleft and GPL-compatible license, however more detailed licenses are recommended.<ref name="fsflist" /> 

[[Poul-Henning Kamp]] states preference of his Beerware license to other licenses, such as [[BSD licenses|BSD]] and [[GNU General Public License|GPL]], the latter of which he has described as a "joke".<ref>[http://people.freebsd.org/~phk/ I think the GNU license is a joke, it fights the capitalism it so much is against with their own tools, and no company is ever going to risk any kind of proximity to so many so vague statements assembled in a license. ]</ref> The full text of Kamp's license is:<ref>
{{cite web
 | author=Kamp, Poul-Henning
 | title=Poul-Henning Kamp
 | date=2004-10-24
 | url=http://people.freebsd.org/~phk/
 | access-date=2006-04-24
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060421154730/http://people.freebsd.org/~phk/
 | archive-date=21 April 2006
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref>
{{bq|text="THE BEER-WARE LICENSE" (Revision 42):

&lt;phk@FreeBSD.ORG&gt; wrote this file.  As long as you retain this notice you can do whatever you want with this stuff. If we meet some day, and you think this stuff is worth it, you can buy me a beer in return. Poul-Henning Kamp.}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}} 
* [[0BSD]] a public domain equivalent license used by Toybox and explicitly allowed for Android 
* [[Anti-copyright license]]
* [[Careware]]
* [[Comparison of free and open-source software licenses]]
* [[Donationware]]
* [[WTFPL]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{FOSS}}
{{software distribution}}

[[Category:Permissive software licenses]]
[[Category:Beer culture]]