GNU General Public License (GPL)

The GNU General Public License; see: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

The GPL requires that source code to a tool or resource be made available, and that modified versions of the tool or resource (including new tools which include part of the original tool's source) make the modified source available to users.

A developer of a tool or resource distributed under the GPL ensures that users of the tool and of modified versions of the tool may always inspect the source code and modify the source to suit their needs, and that users may modify the tool as they see fit without being obliged to distribute their changes. While this may seem to encourage multiple versions of the same tool, the result is often that changes are passed back to the tool originator and incorporated into the original tool.

NeuroLex: birnlex_2344