# Licensing question

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/licensing-question/90241>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [March 27, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/licensing-question/90241 "2007-03-27T00:49:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@casper\_the\_ghost](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/casper_the_ghost)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/licensing-question/90241/1 "2007-03-27T00:49:20Z")

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I have a few questions regarding the “MIT License” that the Rails  
framework uses.

1. The link on the web page (at the bottom of  
[http://www.rubyonrails.com/](http://www.rubyonrails.com/))  
points to a page ([The MIT License – Open Source Initiative](http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php))  
that has a “generic” license template - i.e., the copyright holder  
info reads as follows : “Copyright (c) ”.  
Is there an official copy of the license for Rails maintained  
somewhere?

2. It is not clear to me that derived works (i.e., projects that use,  
but aren’t a part of, an unmodified Rails distribution) may be  
distributed in a restricted manner - by this I mean, “sold under a  
license that restricts the licensee from further distribution of the  
derived work”. Can I assume that the phrase, “this software”, as used  
in the license, refers to the Rails framework alone, and not to  
derivative works building “on top” of the framework? What bothers me  
is the condition “The above copyright notice and this permission  
notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the  
Software.” I have no problem allowing anybody to further distribute  
Rails, but I would NOT want them to do likewise with my app.

3. Would I need to package and deploy the framework separately from  
the app in order to clearly delineate the two? (The intent would be  
to separate the two so that they may be distributed under separate  
licenses.)

4. How have other organizations / developers dealt with licensing and  
distribution of Rails apps?

Thanks in advance for any comments and suggestions.

- Mike