BSDlike

BSDlike is a term used to describe software released under BSD-style licenses or licenses that resemble or derive from the BSD license family. These licenses are typically considered permissive, allowing broad reuse and redistribution with relatively few restrictions beyond attribution and the inclusion of license and warranty disclaimers.

Key characteristics of BSDlike licenses include their permissiveness and simplicity. Most BSDlike licenses permit both source and binary redistribution, require preserving copyright notices and license text, and include explicit disclaimers of warranty and liability. Some historical variants included an advertising clause or non-endorsement provisions, but modern BSDlike licenses commonly omit these or apply them in a narrowed form. The overall design aims to maximize compatibility with other licenses, including proprietary software.

Notable examples and usage. BSDlike licenses are associated with the BSD family of operating systems, such as FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and DragonFly BSD, and are also used by a wide range of third-party software components. Beyond the BSD ecosystems, many projects adopt BSDlike licenses to signal permissiveness and facilitate broad adoption or integration with proprietary code.

Impact and considerations. The permissive nature of BSDlike licenses encourages code reuse and integration across different licensing models, reducing the legal friction for commercial use. However, users must still respect attribution and warranty disclaimers, and license compatibility should be checked when combining BSDlike code with other licenses, especially copyleft licenses.