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CPL to EPL Conversion

As part of the formation of the Eclipse Foundation, the Eclipse community migrated from the Common Public License (CPL) to the Eclipse Public License (EPL). This conversion resulted in changes to quite a few legal documents on our website. This page maintains the transition plan and the old versions of the eclipse.org documents which reference the CPL.

    The Eclipse Public License is an OSI-approved open source license.

The Eclipse Foundation began the transition from the CPL to the EPL on September 9th, 2004. It was substantially completed with the release of Eclipse 3.1 on June 28, 2005.

CPL to EPL Transition

Agreements and Licenses

  • Eclipse.org Software User Agreement By downloading builds or accessing the CVS repository, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions contained in this agreement. This agreement is used for projects that default to the Common Public License (CPL).

    • Frequently Asked Questions

  • CPL Frequently Asked Questions Written by IBM and hosted at IBM’s developerWorks site, this FAQ answers some of the commonly asked questions about the Common Public License (CPL).

    • Resources for Committers

  • "About" Template (CPL References) This is a template for an "about.html" ("About") file that describes CPL-licensed content. Abouts contain legal documentation and are maintained in the CVS repository and subsequently included in builds in plug-in and other directories. They usually contain information about licensing and sometimes also information about any use of cryptography. By convention, every plug-in usually has an About. If all the content in a plug-in, directory or module can be correctly licensed under the CPL then this template can be used without modification. Any other About should be approved by the relevant PMC who can also assist committers with drafting an About.
  • Default Copyright and License Notice The standard copyright and license notice should appear in all source files where possible. Variations on this notice may be required (for example where a license other than the CPL or EPL governs the use of the file).

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