--- title: ZFS Licensing and Linux description: We at Canonical have conducted a legal review, including discussion with the industry’s leading software freedom legal counsel, of the licenses that apply to the Linux kernel and to ZFS.And in doing so, we have concluded that we are acting within the r […] url: https://canonical.com/blog/zfs-licensing-and-linux?format=md --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Dustin Kirkland](https://canonical.com/blog/author/kirkland "More about Dustin Kirkland") 18 February 2016 # ZFS Licensing and Linux [gpl](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/gpl) [legal](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/legal) [zfs](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/zfs) --- Share the article We at Canonical have conducted a legal review, [including discussion with the industry’s leading software freedom legal counsel](https://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2016/linux-kernel-cddl.html), of the licenses that apply to the Linux kernel and to ZFS. And in doing so, we have concluded that we are acting within the rights granted and in compliance with their terms of both of those licenses.  Others have independently achieved the same [conclusion](http://blog.hansenpartnership.com/are-gplv2-and-cddl-incompatible/).  Differing opinions [exist](https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2016/feb/25/zfs-and-linux/), but please bear in mind that these are *[opinions](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tF4FJ9ojHhI/VtRXpumEQ3I/AAAAAAAFGFs/fGT1NQIJox8/s1600/Screenshot%2Bfrom%2B2016-02-29%2B08-37-16.png)*. While the CDDL and GPLv2 are both “copyleft” licenses, they have different scope. The CDDL applies to all files under the CDDL, while the GPLv2 applies to derivative works. The CDDL cannot apply to the Linux kernel because zfs.ko is a self-contained file system module — the kernel itself is quite obviously not a derivative work of this new file system. And zfs.ko, as a self-contained file system module, is clearly not a derivative work of the Linux kernel but rather quite obviously a derivative work of OpenZFS and OpenSolaris. Equivalent exceptions have existed for many years, for various other stand alone, self-contained, non-GPL kernel modules. Our conclusion is good for Ubuntu users, good for Linux, and good for all of free and open source software. [Original article](http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2016/02/zfs-licensing-and-linux.html) [Get in touch Interested in running Ubuntu in your organization?](https://ubuntu.com/about/contact-us/form) ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/dataprivacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### ZFS focus on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS: what’s new?](https://canonical.com/blog/zfs-focus-on-ubuntu-20-04-lts-whats-new) Ubuntu has supported ZFS as an option for some time. In 19.10, we introduced experimental support on the desktop. As explained, having a ZFS on root option on our desktop was... [didrocks](https://canonical.com/blog/author/didrocks) 26 May 2020 [### What’s new in Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 LTS?](https://canonical.com/blog/whats-new-in-ubuntu-desktop-20-04-lts) Well, here it is! Ubuntu is the world’s most popular open-source desktop operating system, and we think this is our best release to date. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is an... [Martin Wimpress](https://canonical.com/blog/author/flexiondotorg) 24 April 2020 [### Enhancing our ZFS support on Ubuntu 19.10 – an introduction](https://canonical.com/blog/enhancing-our-zfs-support-on-ubuntu-19-10-an-introduction) Ubuntu has supported ZFS as an option for some time. We started with a file-based ZFS pool on Ubuntu 15.10, then delivered it as a FS container in 16.04, and recommended it for... [didrocks](https://canonical.com/blog/author/didrocks) 7 August 2019 [### Deploying Ubuntu root on ZFS with MAAS](https://canonical.com/blog/deploying-ubuntu-root-on-zfs-with-maas) With recent updates to MAAS and Curtin, deploying Ubuntu with a ZFS root disk is now possible! Curtin added zfsroot support earlier this year and MAAS has now exposed the... [Joshua Powers](https://canonical.com/blog/author/powersj) 15 October 2018