WTFPL Generator

The WTFPL explained

The WTFPL — "Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License" — is an ultra-permissive free software license known for its irreverent tone. Version 2 (2004), the canonical and most-used revision, was authored by Sam Hocevar, who later served as Debian Project Leader. The license is famously brief: just four lines, ending with the operative clause "0. You just DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO".

It is not OSI-approved (the OSI declined to certify it), but the FSF lists it as a free software license that is compatible with the GPL. In practical terms it functions as a permissive license: do anything you want, with no conditions. There is no warranty disclaimer and no patent grant.

History and intent

A first version (WTFPL-1.0, 2000) was written by Banlu Kemiyatorn with different wording. Sam Hocevar published WTFPL-2.0 in 2004 as a satirical response to "license shopping" — the tendency of developers to obsess over license choice for trivial code. Hocevar's intent was openly to encourage authors to release work as freely as possible without legal ceremony.

Real-world adoption

Adoption is limited to hobby projects, joke libraries, troll repos, code-golf snippets and informal educational examples. Serious open-source projects almost universally avoid it because the profanity makes it unsuitable in corporate, investor-backed, government and academic contexts. Some package registry maintainers have been known to flag or remove packages with the WTFPL on grounds of inappropriate content.

WTFPL vs Unlicense vs CC0

• WTFPL vs Unlicense — same level of permissiveness, but Unlicense is corporate-acceptable and serious; WTFPL is humorous.
• WTFPL vs CC0 — CC0 has lawyer-reviewed text and is the preferred professional choice for "do whatever" dedication.
• WTFPL vs MIT — MIT requires copyright preservation; WTFPL requires nothing.
• No anti-patent provision — WTFPL provides zero defense against patent trolls. For patent-sensitive work, use Apache 2.0.

SPDX and culture

The SPDX identifier is WTFPL. The license enjoys some popularity in IRC, demoscene and hacker communities as a cultural statement against license formalism. For anything you want a recruiter, investor or compliance auditor to read, prefer Unlicense or CC0.

FAQ

Will corporate environments accept WTFPL? Rarely. The profanity triggers compliance flags in most enterprise license-scanning tools.

Can I use a WTFPL library in commercial software? Yes — nothing prohibits it. The license places no conditions of any kind.

Should I prefer CC0 instead? Yes, for professional contexts. CC0 has the same effect with legally vetted text.

Does the FSF approve it? Yes — the FSF lists WTFPL as a free software license compatible with the GPL, though it recommends choosing a more conventional permissive license.

Disclaimer. This generator produces a license template — it is not legal advice. The lack of warranty disclaimer and patent grant makes WTFPL risky for serious work; consult an attorney.