The Origin of the “MIT License”
Jerome H. Saltzer
Abstract
Discusses the origin and history of the “MIT License.” This license has become a popular way of releasing copyrighted computer programs for others to use without requiring signatures or a license fee. The quoted words refer to a group of software licenses that have common ancestry and guiding principles but varying wordings. There has been some recent discussion about the origin of the “MIT License,” but that discussion has been inconclusive because authoritative historical documentation has been missing or hard to find. This note provides some of that history and documentation. Being composed 35 years after the events involved, it relies primarily on my often-flaky recollections but it also offers some relevant supporting documentation found in my files and in online archives.