Documentation Source Text

No code has been taken from other projects or from the open
internet.  Every line of code can be traced back to its original
author, and all of those authors have public domain dedications
on file.  So the SQLite code base is clean and is
uncontaminated with licensed code from other projects.
</p>































<div class="rightsidebar">
<form method="GET" action="https://www.hwaci.com/cgi-bin/license-step1">
<input type="submit" value="Buy An SQLite License">
</form>
</div>

<h2>Obtaining A License To Use SQLite</h2>

<p>
Even though SQLite is in the public domain and does not require
a license, some users want to obtain a license anyway.  Some reasons

for obtaining a license include:
</p>

<ul>
<li> Your company desires warranty of title and/or
     indemnity against claims of copyright infringement.
<li> You are using SQLite in a jurisdiction that does not recognize
................................................................................
     as evidence that you have the legal right to use and distribute
     SQLite. </li>
<li> Your legal department tells you that you have to purchase a license.
     </li>
</ul>

<p>
If you feel like you really need to purchase a license for SQLite,

<a href="https://www.hwaci.com/">Hwaci</a>, the company that employs 
all the developers of SQLite, will 
<a href="https://www.hwaci.com/cgi-bin/license-step1">sell you
one</a>.




All proceeds from the sale of SQLite licenses are used to fund
continuing improvement and support of SQLite.
</p>

<h2>Contributed Code</h2>

<p>
In order to keep SQLite completely free and unencumbered by copyright,
all new contributors to the SQLite code base are asked to dedicate
their contributions to the public domain.
If you want to send a patch or enhancement for possible inclusion in the
SQLite source tree, please accompany the patch with the following statement:
</p>

<blockquote><i>
The author or authors of this code dedicate any and all copyright interest
in this code to the public domain.  We make this dedication for the benefit
of the public at large and to the detriment of our heirs and successors.
We intend this dedication to be an overt act of relinquishment in
perpetuity of all present and future rights to this code under copyright law.
</i></blockquote>

<p>
We are not able to accept patches or changes to 
SQLite that are not accompanied by a statement such as the above.
In addition, if you make
changes or enhancements as an employee, then a simple statement such as the
above is insufficient.  You must also send by surface mail a copyright release
signed by a company officer.
A signed original of the copyright release should be mailed to:</p>

<blockquote>
Hwaci<br>
6200 Maple Cove Lane<br>
Charlotte, NC 28269<br>
USA
</blockquote>

<p>
A template copyright release is available
in <a href="copyright-release.pdf">PDF</a> or
<a href="copyright-release.html">HTML</a>.
You can use this release to make future changes. 
</p>

No code has been taken from other projects or from the open
internet.  Every line of code can be traced back to its original
author, and all of those authors have public domain dedications
on file.  So the SQLite code base is clean and is
uncontaminated with licensed code from other projects.
</p>

<tcl>hd_fragment notopencontrib {not open-contributin}</tcl>
<h2>Open-Source, not Open-Contribution</h2>

<p>
SQLite is open-source, meaning that you can make as many copies of it as
you want and do whatever you want with those copies, without limitation.
But SQLite is not open-contribution.  The project does not accept patches.
Only 27 individuals have ever contributed any code to SQLite, and of those
only 16 still have traces in the latest release.  
Only 3 developers have contributed
non-comment changes within the previous five years and 96.4% of the latest
release code was written by just two people.
(The statistics in this paragraph were gathered on 2018-02-05.)

<p>
Furthermore, all of the code in SQLite is original, having been written
specifically for use by SQLite.  No code has been copied from unknown
sources on the internet.

<p>
Many people associated "open-source" software with software that has
grow organically through contributions from countless individuals.
And, indeed, there is some open-source software that works that way.
But not SQLite.  SQLite uses the the
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar|cathedral development philosopy]
not the bazaar approach.  All of the SQLite code has been written
by people who are well known to each other.

<tcl>hd_fragment warrantyoftitle {Warranty of Title}</tcl>

<div class="rightsidebar">
<form method="GET" action="https://www.hwaci.com/cgi-bin/license-step1">
<input type="submit" value="Buy An SQLite License">
</form>
</div>

<h2>Warrany of Title</h2>

<p>
SQLite is in the public domain and does not require
a license, some organizations want legal proof of their right to use
SQLite. Some reasons
for obtaining a license include:
</p>

<ul>
<li> Your company desires warranty of title and/or
     indemnity against claims of copyright infringement.
<li> You are using SQLite in a jurisdiction that does not recognize
................................................................................
     as evidence that you have the legal right to use and distribute
     SQLite. </li>
<li> Your legal department tells you that you have to purchase a license.
     </li>
</ul>

<p>
If you feel like you really need to purchase proof of your right
to use SQLite,
<a href="https://www.hwaci.com/">Hwaci</a>, the company that employs 
all the developers of SQLite, will 
<a href="https://www.hwaci.com/cgi-bin/license-step1">sell you
a Warranty of Title</a>.
A Warranty of Title is a legal document that asserts that the claimed
authors of SQLite are the true authors, and that the authors 
have the legal right to dedicate the SQLite to the public domain, and 
that Hwaci will vigorously defend against challenges to those claims.
All proceeds from the sale of SQLite Warranties of Title are used to fund
continuing improvement and support of SQLite.
</p>

<h2>Contributed Code</h2>

<p>
In order to keep SQLite completely free and unencumbered by copyright,
the project does not accept patches.  If you would like to make a
suggested change, and include a patch as a proof-of-concept, that would
be great.  However please do not be offended if we rewrite your patch
from scratch.