1 ,lad*j"Tځz@ؔţ /_I|6qA. HISTORY OF THE SOFTWARE ========================== Python was created in the early 1990s by Guido van Rossum at Stichting Mathematisch Centrum (CWI, see http://www.cwi.nl) in the Netherlands as a successor of a language called ABC. Guido remains Python's principal author, although it includes many contributions from others. In 1995, Guido continued his work on Python at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI, see http://www.cnri.reston.va.us) in Reston, Virginia where he released several versions of the software. In May 2000, Guido and the Python core development team moved to BeOpen.com to form the BeOpen PythonLabs team. In October of the same year, the PythonLabs team moved to Digital Creations, which became Zope Corporation. In 2001, the Python Software Foundation (PSF, see https://www.python.org/psf/) was formed, a non-profit organization created specifically to own Python-related Intellectual Property. Zope Corporation was a sponsoring member of the PSF. All Python releases are Open Source (see http://www.opensource.org for the Open Source Definition). Historically, most, but not all, Python releases have also been GPL-compatible; the table below summarizes the various releases. Release Derived Year Owner GPL- from compatible? (1) 0.9.0 thru 1.2 1991-1995 CWI yes 1.3 thru 1.5.2 1.2 1995-1999 CNRI yes 1.6 1.5.2 2000 CNRI no 2.0 1.6 2000 BeOpen.com no 1.6.1 1.6 2001 CNRI yes (2) 2.1 2.0+1.6.1 2001 PSF no 2.0.1 2.0+1.6.1 2001 PSF yes 2.1.1 2.1+2.0.1 2001 PSF yes 2.1.2 2.1.1 2002 PSF yes 2.1.3 2.1.2 2002 PSF yes 2.2 and above 2.1.1 2001-now PSF yes Footnotes: (1) GPL-compatible doesn't mean that we're distributing Python under the GPL. All Python licenses, unlike the GPL, let you distribute a modified version without making your changes open source. The GPL-compatible licenses make it possible to combine Python with other software that is released under the GPL; the others don't. (2) According to Richard Stallman, 1.6.1 is not GPL-compatible, because its license has a choice of law clause. According to CNRI, however, Stallman's lawyer has told CNRI's lawyer that 1.6.1 is "not incompatible" with the GPL. Thanks to the many outside volunteers who have worked under Guido's direction to make these releases possible. B. TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR ACCESSING OR OTHERWISE USING PYTHON =============================================================== Python software and documentation are licensed under the Python Software Foundation License Version 2. Starting with Python 3.8.6, examples, recipes, and other code in the documentation are dual licensed under the PSF License Version 2 and the Zero-Clause BSD license. Some software incorporated into Python is under different licenses. The licenses are listed with code falling under that license. PYTHON SOFTWARE FOUNDATION LICENSE VERSION 2 -------------------------------------------- 1. This LICENSE AGREEMENT is between the Python Software Foundation ("PSF"), and the Individual or Organization ("Licensee") accessing and otherwise using this software ("Python") in source or binary form and its associated documentation. 2. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License Agreement, PSF hereby grants Licensee a nonexclusive, royalty-free, world-wide license to reproduce, analyze, test, perform and/or display publicly, prepare derivative works, distribute, and otherwise use Python alone or in any derivative version, provided, however, that PSF's License Agreement and PSF's notice of copyright, i.e., "Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,