An exploratory study of the evolution of software licensing
An exploratory study of the evolution of software licensing
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软件许可演变的探索性研究
DOI：
10.1145/1806799.1806824
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发表时间：
2010
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
G. Antoniol
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
M. D. Penta;D. Germán;Yann;G. Antoniol
自由和开放源码软件（FOSS）是根据不同的软件许可证向用户分发和提供的，FOSS代码中通过许可证声明提到了这些许可证。各种因素，如法律的环境的变化、作为自由和开放源码软件许可的商业代码或从其他自由和开放源码软件系统重新使用的代码，导致许可证的演变，这可能影响到系统或其中一部分随后的使用方式。因此，监测许可证的演变至关重要。但是，手动跟踪数千个文件的许可演变是一项艰巨的任务。在介绍了几个案例的影响，许可证的演变，我们提出了一种方法来自动跟踪发生在系统的许可证条款的变化。然后，我们报告了六个不同的自由和开放源码软件系统的许可演变的实证研究。结果表明，许可证制度经历了频繁和重大的变化。
Free and open source software systems (FOSS) are distributed and made available to users under different software licenses, mentioned in FOSS code by means of licensing statements. Various factors, such as changes in the legal landscape, commercial code licensed as FOSS, or code reused from other FOSS systems, lead to evolution of licensing, which may affect the way a system or part thereof can be subsequently used. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor licensing evolution. However, manually tracking the licensing evolution of thousands of files is a daunting task. After presenting several cases of the effects of licensing evolution, we propose an approach to automatically track changes occurring in the licensing terms of a system. Then, we report an empirical study of the licensing evolution of six different FOSS systems. Results show that licensing underwent frequent and substantial changes.