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Python Software Foundation License

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The Python Software Foundation License (PSFL) is a 'booby-trap' copylefted, free software license which is compatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL). Its primary use is for distribution of the Python project software. Unlike the GPL the Python license is not an openly copyleft licence, but features a loophole that may require that modified versions be distributed only after making the modifications open source. The PSFL is listed as approved on both FSF's approved licenses list, and OSI's approved licenses list.

Early versions of this license were incompatible with the GPL. The reason given by Free Software Foundation was that "this Python license is governed by the laws of the 'State of Virginia', in the USA, and the GPL does not permit this."

The year that Python's creator Guido van Rossum changed the license to fix this incompatibility he was awarded the Free Software Foundation Award for the Advancement of Free Software.

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