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| 55 | <H1><A NAME="SECTION0014100000000000000000"> |
| 56 | B.1 History of the software</A> |
| 57 | </H1> |
| 58 | |
| 59 | <P> |
| 60 | Python was created in the early 1990s by Guido van Rossum at Stichting |
| 61 | Mathematisch Centrum (CWI, see <a class="url" href="http://www.cwi.nl/">http://www.cwi.nl/</a>) in the Netherlands |
| 62 | as a successor of a language called ABC. Guido remains Python's |
| 63 | principal author, although it includes many contributions from others. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | <P> |
| 66 | In 1995, Guido continued his work on Python at the Corporation for |
| 67 | National Research Initiatives (CNRI, see <a class="url" href="http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/">http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/</a>) |
| 68 | in Reston, Virginia where he released several versions of the |
| 69 | software. |
| 70 | |
| 71 | <P> |
| 72 | In May 2000, Guido and the Python core development team moved to |
| 73 | BeOpen.com to form the BeOpen PythonLabs team. In October of the same |
| 74 | year, the PythonLabs team moved to Digital Creations (now Zope |
| 75 | Corporation; see <a class="url" href="http://www.zope.com/">http://www.zope.com/</a>). In 2001, the Python |
| 76 | Software Foundation (PSF, see <a class="url" href="http://www.python.org/psf/">http://www.python.org/psf/</a>) was |
| 77 | formed, a non-profit organization created specifically to own |
| 78 | Python-related Intellectual Property. Zope Corporation is a |
| 79 | sponsoring member of the PSF. |
| 80 | |
| 81 | <P> |
| 82 | All Python releases are Open Source (see |
| 83 | <a class="url" href="http://www.opensource.org/">http://www.opensource.org/</a> for the Open Source Definition). |
| 84 | Historically, most, but not all, Python releases have also been |
| 85 | GPL-compatible; the table below summarizes the various releases. |
| 86 | |
| 87 | <P> |
| 88 | <div class="center"><table class="realtable"> |
| 89 | <thead> |
| 90 | <tr> |
| 91 | <th class="center">Release</th> |
| 92 | <th class="center">Derived from</th> |
| 93 | <th class="center">Year</th> |
| 94 | <th class="center">Owner</th> |
| 95 | <th class="center">GPL compatible?</th> |
| 96 | </tr> |
| 97 | </thead> |
| 98 | <tbody> |
| 99 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">0.9.0 thru 1.2</td> |
| 100 | <td class="center">n/a</td> |
| 101 | <td class="center">1991-1995</td> |
| 102 | <td class="center">CWI</td> |
| 103 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 104 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">1.3 thru 1.5.2</td> |
| 105 | <td class="center">1.2</td> |
| 106 | <td class="center">1995-1999</td> |
| 107 | <td class="center">CNRI</td> |
| 108 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 109 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">1.6</td> |
| 110 | <td class="center">1.5.2</td> |
| 111 | <td class="center">2000</td> |
| 112 | <td class="center">CNRI</td> |
| 113 | <td class="center">no</td></tr> |
| 114 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.0</td> |
| 115 | <td class="center">1.6</td> |
| 116 | <td class="center">2000</td> |
| 117 | <td class="center">BeOpen.com</td> |
| 118 | <td class="center">no</td></tr> |
| 119 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">1.6.1</td> |
| 120 | <td class="center">1.6</td> |
| 121 | <td class="center">2001</td> |
| 122 | <td class="center">CNRI</td> |
| 123 | <td class="center">no</td></tr> |
| 124 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.1</td> |
| 125 | <td class="center">2.0+1.6.1</td> |
| 126 | <td class="center">2001</td> |
| 127 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 128 | <td class="center">no</td></tr> |
| 129 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.0.1</td> |
| 130 | <td class="center">2.0+1.6.1</td> |
| 131 | <td class="center">2001</td> |
| 132 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 133 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 134 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.1.1</td> |
| 135 | <td class="center">2.1+2.0.1</td> |
| 136 | <td class="center">2001</td> |
| 137 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 138 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 139 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.2</td> |
| 140 | <td class="center">2.1.1</td> |
| 141 | <td class="center">2001</td> |
| 142 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 143 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 144 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.1.2</td> |
| 145 | <td class="center">2.1.1</td> |
| 146 | <td class="center">2002</td> |
| 147 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 148 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 149 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.1.3</td> |
| 150 | <td class="center">2.1.2</td> |
| 151 | <td class="center">2002</td> |
| 152 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 153 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 154 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.2.1</td> |
| 155 | <td class="center">2.2</td> |
| 156 | <td class="center">2002</td> |
| 157 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 158 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 159 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.2.2</td> |
| 160 | <td class="center">2.2.1</td> |
| 161 | <td class="center">2002</td> |
| 162 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 163 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 164 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.2.3</td> |
| 165 | <td class="center">2.2.2</td> |
| 166 | <td class="center">2002-2003</td> |
| 167 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 168 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 169 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.3</td> |
| 170 | <td class="center">2.2.2</td> |
| 171 | <td class="center">2002-2003</td> |
| 172 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 173 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 174 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.3.1</td> |
| 175 | <td class="center">2.3</td> |
| 176 | <td class="center">2002-2003</td> |
| 177 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 178 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 179 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.3.2</td> |
| 180 | <td class="center">2.3.1</td> |
| 181 | <td class="center">2003</td> |
| 182 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 183 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 184 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.3.3</td> |
| 185 | <td class="center">2.3.2</td> |
| 186 | <td class="center">2003</td> |
| 187 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 188 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 189 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.3.4</td> |
| 190 | <td class="center">2.3.3</td> |
| 191 | <td class="center">2004</td> |
| 192 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 193 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 194 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.3.5</td> |
| 195 | <td class="center">2.3.4</td> |
| 196 | <td class="center">2005</td> |
| 197 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 198 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 199 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.4</td> |
| 200 | <td class="center">2.3</td> |
| 201 | <td class="center">2004</td> |
| 202 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 203 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 204 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.4.1</td> |
| 205 | <td class="center">2.4</td> |
| 206 | <td class="center">2005</td> |
| 207 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 208 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr> |
| 209 | <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline">2.4.2</td> |
| 210 | <td class="center">2.4.1</td> |
| 211 | <td class="center">2005</td> |
| 212 | <td class="center">PSF</td> |
| 213 | <td class="center">yes</td></tr></tbody> |
| 214 | </table></div> |
| 215 | |
| 216 | <P> |
| 217 | <span class="note"><b class="label">Note:</b> |
| 218 | GPL-compatible doesn't mean that we're distributing |
| 219 | Python under the GPL. All Python licenses, unlike the GPL, let you |
| 220 | distribute a modified version without making your changes open source. |
| 221 | The GPL-compatible licenses make it possible to combine Python with |
| 222 | other software that is released under the GPL; the others don't.</span> |
| 223 | |
| 224 | <P> |
| 225 | Thanks to the many outside volunteers who have worked under Guido's |
| 226 | direction to make these releases possible. |
| 227 | |
| 228 | <P> |
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