Understanding Open Source Licensing

"Arguably, the prime reason why developers tend to opt for open source licenses is that it lets their software roll on as a group or community exercise, and this in turn enhances productivity manifolds. For instance, Acquia Network, the parent organization behind Drupal, currently consists of 160 employees. Obviously, a company of that size cannot sustain a mammoth project such as Drupal. However, Drupal itself being open source, is helped by the numerous volunteers from the community. Similarly, WordPress rides the wagon of a super-active community while its parent organization, Automattic, concentrates on select issues.
"Open source licenses nowadays come in multiple versions. Wikipedia has a rather incomplete list of some of the major free licenses at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software_license While all such licenses cater to diverse purposes with the same goal ('freedom'), we shall restrict ourselves to only the major ones for the sake of simplicity. From a small/medium enterprise's point of view, the noteworthy licenses include GPL/LGPL, MPL, Apache License and BSD License."
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