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Drupal is an open-source project released under the GNU General Public License Version 3, or GPLv3. A detailed overview of the licensing can be found in the Drupal installation archive or on the GNU General Public License page. This license requires that any projects developed using Drupal also be released under the same GPL. It is important that anyone considering the use of Drupal read and understand the requirements of the GPLv3 and how it interacts with any institutional policies or expectations for development projects.
System Requirements
Drupal is designed to run under what is commonly referred to as a LAMP environment. This refers to the Linux operating system, the Apache Web server, the MySQL database, and the PHP language. This environment is built from open-source software, which means the only startup cost for Drupal is the hardware for a Web server. Most commercial Web hosting companies provide these services as a default package, though you may need to confirm that all of Drupal's specific requirements for settings in Apache and PHP are met. The core Drupal software will run under Microsoft's Server software using the US Web server, but user-contributed add-ons and advanced functionality may not be fully supported. At this time, Drupal cannot use Microsoft's...