Understanding open source and free software licensing Free and open source development models have made tremendous contributions to computing sustaining both research and commercial projects and making it easier for large groups of people who may not even be acquainted to help each other. While this growing activity has a promising future all of this work is built on top of licenseslegal documentsthat often seem arcane or difficult to understand. Businesses and individuals aren&rsquo;t always sure what is at stake in their decisions to participate and deciding which license to use for a particular project can be a project of its own.