Is BSD-2-Clause compatible with GPL-2.0-or-later?
Yes.
Permissive code can be pulled into a GPL work; the combined distributed work becomes GPL. One-way: you cannot pull GPL back into a permissive project and keep it permissive.
Result license is the more restrictive of the inputs. You must satisfy every input license's notice and source-offer terms. Verify pairwise compatibility first.
Resulting work's license: GPL-2.0-or-later
General guidance, not legal advice.
Obligations when redistributing as open source
- BSD-2-Clause: retain the copyright notice and license text.
- GPL-2.0-or-later: retain the copyright notice and license text.
- GPL-2.0-or-later: state significant changes made to the code.
- GPL-2.0-or-later: provide complete corresponding source of the combined work.
- GPL-2.0-or-later: the combined distributed work must be licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later.
Other distribution models
These licenses sit the same way against each other under every distribution model, but the model decides whether you can ship the result. Not possible under:
- Proprietary software you distribute as a binary — GPL-2.0-or-later requires the entire distributed work to be licensed GPL-2.0-or-later with complete corresponding source, so a proprietary binary is not possible. Distribute the whole work under GPL-2.0-or-later, or replace the GPL-2.0-or-later component.
Check this pair in the tool to switch models.