PHP Considers Major License Shift: What Developers Need to Know

The PHP programming language, a cornerstone of web development for over two decades, is undergoing a pivotal transformation. The PHP developer community is actively discussing a proposal to replace its long-standing custom licenses—the PHP License and the Zend Engine License—with the Modified BSD License, a move that could reshape how PHP is used, distributed, and integrated across ecosystems.

🧩 Why the Change?

The motivation behind this shift stems from years of legal ambiguity and compatibility concerns:

• The PHP License, while approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI), received only legacy approval, meaning it doesn’t meet modern OSI standards.

• The Zend Engine License, which governs the core execution engine of PHP, was never officially OSI-approved.

• Both licenses are incompatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL), creating friction when PHP is used in GPL-based environments like Linux.

This has led to confusion among developers, contributors, and legal teams—especially in enterprise settings where license clarity is paramount.

📜 The Proposal: Modified BSD License

The proposed solution is to adopt the Modified BSD License (also known as the 3-clause BSD license) for both PHP and the Zend Engine. This license is:

• OSI-approved

• GPL-compatible

• Recognized by the Free Software Foundation as a free software license

The change is being formalized through an RFC (Request for Comments) and is scheduled to take effect with the release of PHP 9.0, although no release date has been announced.

🔐 What Changes for Developers?

Surprisingly, not much changes in terms of rights:

• Existing usage rights remain intact.

• The core content of the PHP and Zend licenses already mirrors BSD, minus some project-specific clauses.

• The proposal simply removes special terms like name protection and custom usage conditions.

This means developers and contributors won’t lose any freedoms—they’ll gain greater legal clarity and compatibility instead.

🧠 Implications for the Ecosystem

✅ Benefits:

• Simplified legal compliance for companies and open-source projects

• Better integration with GPL-based software

• Reduced license proliferation, aligning PHP with widely accepted standards

⚠️ Considerations:

• Projects using the old PHP License may need to update documentation and headers

• Developers should avoid using the term “PHP License, version 4” to prevent confusion—it’s simply the Modified BSD License

🗳️ Community and Governance

The proposal has received support from both the PHP Group and Perforce Software (which owns Zend Technologies). A community vote is planned to finalize the decision, ensuring transparency and collective agreement.

🎯 Final Thoughts

This license change marks a significant step in PHP’s evolution—not in its syntax or performance, but in its legal and philosophical alignment with the broader open-source world. By embracing the Modified BSD License, PHP is positioning itself for greater interoperability, trust, and longevity in modern software development.

As PHP 9.0 approaches, developers should stay informed and prepare for a smoother, more standardized licensing future.

Reference

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Programming-language-PHP-discusses-license-change-10487373.html