Understanding the FreeRTOS License

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Author | strongerHuang

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Many commercial software requires a License to function properly; otherwise, one can only use illegal “*cracks” to use it.

Many software libraries and source codes used by software engineers also need to comply with licenses.

Here, I will briefly explain the licensing content of FreeRTOS and related License content.

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About License

License means permission; although many of our software is free to use, it still needs to comply with licenses, such as the open-source licenses we mention.

Categories of Open Source Licenses:

• GNU GPL

• BSD

• Apache

• MIT

• GNU LGPL

1.GNU GPL

GNU GPL: GNU General Public License.

Main features of GPL open source agreement:

• Freedom to copy: Allows copying the software to anyone’s computer without limiting the number of copies.

• Freedom to distribute: Allows software to be distributed in various forms.

• Paid distribution: Allows selling the software on various media, but must inform the buyer that this software can be obtained for free; thus, generally speaking, open-source software profits by providing paid services to users.

• Freedom to modify: Allows developers to add or remove software functions, but the modified software must still be licensed under the GPL agreement.

2.BSD

BSD: Berkeley Software Distribution License.

BSD is more friendly to commerce; many companies prefer BSD licenses when choosing open-source products because they can fully control these third-party codes and even modify or redevelop them if necessary.

3. Apache

Full name Apache License Version.

4.MIT

MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the least restrictive open-source licenses (less restrictive than BSD and Apache).

As long as the developer retains the original author’s license information in the modified source code, it is widely used in commercial software.

5.GNU LGPL

GNU Lesser General Public License.

LGPL is a derivative version of GPL, also known as GPL V2, and this agreement is mainly designed for library open-source agreements.

LGPL allows commercial software to use LGPL libraries through linking without needing to open-source the commercial software’s code. This allows open-source code under LGPL to be referenced and sold as libraries in commercial software.

Open source does not equal free:

Open source software is software that publicly releases its source code: Open-source software comes with its source code upon release and grants permission for users to modify, distribute, or redevelop.

Free software is software provided to users for free: However, while free, there are usually some restrictions, such as the source code not being publicly available, users cannot freely modify or republish, etc.

Here you can refer to the previously shared article:How programmers choose open-source licenses??

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FreeRTOS License

Although FreeRTOS is free, it needs to comply with the MIT open-source license.

Including but not limited to the following rights: the right to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, or sell copies of the content.

FreeRTOS software is provided “as is” without any form of express or implied warranty. Implied warranties include but are not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

In no event shall the author or copyright holder be liable for any claims, damages, or other liabilities, whether in an action of contract, tort, or otherwise, arising from, out of, or in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the software.

FreeRTOS also has a corresponding commercial system: OpenRTOS.

It is similar to FreeRTOS, but does not require commercial payment; below are the differences:

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