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KDE

KDE is an international community that develops free and open-source software, including the Plasma desktop environment, KDE Frameworks and more than 200 applications. Its licensing policy requires GPL or LGPL licences, with a few other licences permitted for specific cases.

Licensing at a Glance

  • Open source

  1. KDE describes itself as an international community developing free and open-source software that anyone may use for free; Plasma is its flagship desktop environment.[1]

  2. Libraries with a public API that are part of the KDE Platform (such as KDE Frameworks) must be licensed under LGPL 2.1, LGPL 3 or later versions approved by KDE e.V.[2]

  3. Other KDE source files must be licensed under GPL 2, GPL 3 or later versions approved by KDE e.V., and the GNU AGPL is the recommended licence for server software.[3]

  4. All source files in KDE repositories must carry a copyright header and either SPDX identifiers or licence headers, with the licence texts included.[4]

  5. KDE e.V. adopted a Fiduciary Licensing Agreement in 2008 as its preferred way for contributors to assign copyright; signing it is optional.[5]

Products

References

  1. Home - KDE Community · kde.org · retrieved 2026-09-27
  2. Policies/Licensing Policy - KDE Community Wiki · community.kde.org · retrieved 2026-09-27
  3. Policies/Licensing Policy - KDE Community Wiki · community.kde.org · retrieved 2026-09-27
  4. Policies/Licensing Policy - KDE Community Wiki · community.kde.org · retrieved 2026-09-27
  5. Fiduciary Licensing Agreement - KDE e.V. · ev.kde.org · retrieved 2026-09-27
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