The MIT License is a permissive free software license originating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It is known for its simplicity and permissiveness, making it one of the most popular licenses for open source software.
The origins of the MIT License can be traced back to the 1980s when it was first used at MIT for their software distribution. However, it gained significant traction in the open source community after being adopted by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) in the 1990s. The license was designed to be:
The MIT License is notably short, which is part of its appeal. Here is the full text:
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, 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.
The MIT License has been widely adopted for a variety of software projects. Some notable examples include:
Its permissive nature allows for commercial use, making it attractive to businesses while still protecting the rights of the original creators.