Sleepycat (Berkeley DB) is copyleft: ship a work that uses the library, and you must offer source of your work too. Dual-license was the commercial path.
On this page
What it does
The Sleepycat License covers Berkeley DB. Open source use is free. If you distribute an application that uses the library, you must make source of that application available. That is stronger than LGPL. Oracle still sells a commercial Berkeley DB license as the alternative. Do not treat Sleepycat as BSD.
Pros
- The grant is public and the reciprocity is written down. Buyers know what they are looking at.
- Internal use without distribution stays ordinary. The hard work starts when a copy leaves the company.
Cons
- The source-offer duty is real the moment you distribute binaries that include covered files.
- How far copyleft reaches in a mixed stack is a counsel question. Do not guess from a blog post.
What it allows and requires
Choose a category to see the full grant in one scannable list. Permissions show what the license allows, limits show what it withholds, and obligations show the conditions your release process must satisfy.
Permissions
Commercial use
You may ship the code inside a paid product. The license does not restrict commercial use.
Modify
You may change the code, including keeping those changes private, unless a later obligation says otherwise.
Distribute
You may give copies to others. Distribution is what usually turns notice and source duties into real work.
Private use
Use inside your company, including internal forks, does not by itself trigger distribution duties.
Patent use
These licenses typically include a patent grant covering the licensed files. Read the grant before relying on it in a high-stakes deal.
Limits
Hold liable
The authors disclaim warranty. Recipients cannot hold them liable for damages arising from the software, except where law forbids that disclaimer.
Use trademark
The license is not a trademark license. Names, logos and product marks stay with their owners unless a separate grant says otherwise.
Open your product
File- or library-scoped copyleft does not, on its face, force you to open your entire application. Reciprocity stays on the covered files.
Obligations
Include copyright
Keep copyright notices on the covered files you distribute.
Include license
Keep the license text with the covered files, and say that those files are under this license.
Disclose source
Covered files you change and distribute must have source available under the same license.
What Sleepycat requires when you ship
When you distribute a binary that includes Sleepycat code, notice still travels with the copy, and the corresponding source has to be available under the same license. Internal use without a copy leaving the company is a different situation. The list below is the shipping work: what a recipient of that binary can demand, and what you record so a buyer can see it.
You meet Sleepycat on a shipped binary when every recipient can get the corresponding source the license describes.
You meet the notice terms when the original copyright lines and the license text travel with the copy.
You keep internal use inside the terms when no copy leaves your company. Distribution is what usually turns the source duty into real work.
The duties named in Sleepycat
Notice still travels with the copy. On top of that, Sleepycat names a source duty. These are the conditions in the text. The how-to above is when they become real work.
Include copyright
Keep copyright notices on the covered files you distribute.
Include license
Keep the license text with the covered files, and say that those files are under this license.
Disclose source
Covered files you change and distribute must have source available under the same license.
Things to be aware of
- Saying you only use Sleepycat on the server, then shipping a Docker image or an on-prem build. Ask the question per artifact you hand out.
- Offering source for the covered package alone when the license asks for corresponding source of the work you shipped.
What the Sleepycat License does not do
Search results often flatten Sleepycat License into a slogan. These are the usual misreads. Sleepycat is a grant with conditions, not a permission to skip the paperwork below.
- Sleepycat is not "permissive with extra paperwork." Change covered files and ship them, and that source has to be available under the same license.
- Sleepycat does not erase notice duties. Copyright lines and the license text still travel with the copies you hand over.
How Sleepycat differs from nearby licenses
These licenses are often confused with Sleepycat, but their release duties differ. Each row summarizes what the license requires when you ship. Open the linked page for the full checklist.
- Sleepycat
- Sleepycat (Berkeley DB) is copyleft: ship a work that uses the library, and you must offer source of your work too. Dual-license was the commercial path.
- GPL-2.0-or-later
- GPL-2.0 asks for source when you hand someone a binary. Running it on your own servers triggers nothing. The trigger is shipping a copy, not merely using it.
- LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Weak copyleft for libraries. Your own code can stay closed as long as users can swap in their own build of the library. Static linking makes relinking costly.
Common questions about Sleepycat License
Answers to common questions about what Sleepycat License requires, when its duties apply, and what evidence belongs with a release.
What is the Sleepycat License?
The Sleepycat License covers Berkeley DB. Open source use is free. If you distribute an application that uses the library, you must make source of that application available. That is stronger than LGPL. Oracle still sells a commercial Berkeley DB license as the alternative. Do not treat Sleepycat as BSD.
What does Sleepycat require when you ship a product?
You meet Sleepycat on a shipped binary when every recipient can get the corresponding source the license describes. You meet the notice terms when the original copyright lines and the license text travel with the copy. You keep internal use inside the terms when no copy leaves your company. Distribution is what usually turns the source duty into real work.
Does hosting a product that uses Sleepycat trigger extra duties?
Hosting alone usually does not trigger the source duty for Sleepycat. Shipping a binary, a container, or an on-prem build does. Notice still travels with any copy you hand over.
Can I keep my application closed if I use Sleepycat?
Sleepycat is library-scoped copyleft. Your application can stay closed if recipients can replace the library with their own build. Static linking makes that expensive. The library itself still ships with corresponding source and notices. Confirm the linking story on the component, then record it.
What is corresponding source for Sleepycat?
Corresponding source is the source a recipient needs to build and run the same binary, including scripts and interface files the license names. Hosting a repository URL can be an offer. The offer has to match what you actually shipped. SourceTrust records that a person on your team confirmed the offer. It does not publish your source and does not host a mirror.
How is Sleepycat different from GNU GPL v2.0 or later?
Sleepycat asks this: Sleepycat (Berkeley DB) is copyleft: ship a work that uses the library, and you must offer source of your work too. Dual-license was the commercial path. GNU GPL v2.0 or later asks this: GPL-2.0 asks for source when you hand someone a binary. Running it on your own servers triggers nothing. The trigger is shipping a copy, not merely using it. Open the GNU GPL v2.0 or later page for what that license requires when you ship. Do not treat the SPDX ids as interchangeable because the short names look similar.
Where do I record Sleepycat for a buyer?
The catalog marks Sleepycat as copyleft, so a source offer item appears on the project checklist when the project's distribution context is Distributed binary or Mixed. A SaaS-only project sees no item for it unless the row also carries a network trigger. Nobody ticks the item for you: a person on your team confirms it, and publishing stays blocked until every applicable item is confirmed. SourceTrust does not publish your source and does not host a mirror.
Where do I record Sleepycat for a buyer?
The catalog marks Sleepycat as copyleft, so a source offer item appears on the project checklist when the project's distribution context is Distributed binary or Mixed. A SaaS-only project sees no item for it unless the row also carries a network trigger.
Nobody ticks the item for you: a person on your team confirms it, and publishing stays blocked until every applicable item is confirmed. SourceTrust does not publish your source and does not host a mirror.
See also
The hub is the pillar for this cluster. Sibling licenses are the other spokes. Product FAQ links explain how SourceTrust records the duty, not the license text itself.
Practical guidance for procurement review, not legal advice. Confirm high-stakes use with counsel.