Technically, the bukkit api is not illegal as it is completely separate from craftbukkit which then makes all of the plugins ok as well just have to be gpled, however, the craftbukkit server software is the issue here as it contains code from. We also accept dual licensed plugins for inclusion as long as one of the licenses offered for dual licensing is the lgpl. If a program released under the gpl uses plugins, what are the requirements for the licenses of a plugin. Frequently asked questions regarding open source software oss and the department of defense dod this page is an educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software oss in the department of defense dod. For example, if someone created a filter for gimp, could they distribute a.
Support to any codecs using gpl licensed software was disabled, so it can be used to create proprietary software without gpl restrictions. Does that mean all the gpl programs running in windows such as vlc, git, cygwin, etc are all violating the gpl license because they definitely need to link with the. Also, i want the bridge code, the implementation of the plugin interfaces to be open source and under a gplv3 compatible license. I have been on another similar site as a premium member, however. It was named the gnu gpl, as it was initially used by stallman to license the gnu operating system. The gpl governs the distribution of the software, not its use. This license governs what you can and cant do with wordpress. Bukkit is gpl, all nongpl plugins are breaking law. Licensing advisory how to license the applications you build with gstreamer. Software licensed under the gnu general public license is free software, and all software that builds on gpllicensed components is also free and must also be licensed under the gpl.
The faq for the current version of the gpl is here. In other words, the gpl is the antithesis to proprietary softwarethe likes of. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or gpl is a series of widely used free software. How can gpl terms apply to distribution of a proprietary. The challenge a plugin developer in this situation faces, i think, is that if she takes the nongplproprietary path, she risks being criticised by those who think the gpl applies to the plugin or at least portions of it or, a separate point, that this approach violates wordpress community norms which is not a legal point at all. Is there a loophole in the gpl that allows proprietary.
Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. My intention is to make tight plugin hooks that all proprietary plugins must follow and a way to indicate to the user which plugins that we can remove at runtime. The licenses were originally written by richard stallman, former head of the free software foundation fsf, for the gnu project, and grant the recipients of a. Can plugins for closed source software use gpld libraries. If you should know, there are several other open source licenses too, some of which claim to offer even more freedom than the gpl such as mozilla public license, bsd licence, apache 2. Is it legal to sell wordpress themes and plugins as. For the regular wordpress user installing plugins from outside of the plugin repository, there is practically no way to differentiate a plugin that ships with the gpl license, and a plugin vendor that chooses to ship with a proprietary license. Jul 21, 2009 it is possible, and even common, for gpl applications and proprietary ones to coexist side by side. Jun 15, 2012 gpl code can be dynamically linked to binary proprietary code, and the lgpl allows static linking to proprietary binaries. The gdpr and its practical global effect, whether we like it or not. They led to a new era of software development where sharing and improving as a community is more valuable than selling proprietary software maybe because we stopped selling software altogether and started selling services. This software is licensed under the general public license gpl, version 2 see below for the full text of this license. Gpl kit offers automatic woocommerce updates for over 900 gpl plugins for wordpress and woocommerce. Relationships between the gpl licences and other software are carefully.
The vast majority of questions i get about combining gpl and proprietary software concern embedded systems, since linux is a component of so many consumer products these days. This general public license applies to most of the free software foundations software and to. You can support our efforts by making a donation to the fsf. Hell, i even bypassed the entire coming into effect of the gdpr though i have written about it elsewhere. Wordpress and gpl everything you need to know kinsta. To learn more about the free software foundations other licenses, please see our licenses page. Its impressive, for instance, to look at sonys web site where they fulfill their gpl obligation, and see the dozens of tv models and many other products that contain linux. It is possible, and even common, for gpl applications and proprietary ones to coexist side by side. The question its been a while since ive dropped a post here. I wonder how it is legal to sell themes and plugins as proprietary software. As such, s laws cannot force you to release your proprietary code under the gpl even if this is what you should have done at the first place. We can offer such plugins and themes at such a great price because what you are paying when you buy from the developer is the support. What complicates things with regards to gstreamer is its pluginbased design and the heavily patented and proprietary nature of many multimedia codecs.
Proprietary kernel modules that include gpl wrappers typically distribute the gpl component in source code form only, and require the user to compile them. Licensing your applications and plugins for use with gstreamer. About gpl and proprietary software postgresql database. Great support for any kind of questions, always updated catalogue and a single price for more than 2000 items, just amazing, clean and transparent. It is therefore often thought that gpllicensed software is unsuitable for proprietary projects. While the much more high profile versionpress was deciding whether they should adopt the gpl, we were doing the same. How can gpl terms apply to the distribution of a proprietary. The reason we demand plugins be licensed under the lgpl, even when they are using a gpl library, is that other developers might want to use the plugin code as a template for plugins linking to nongpl libraries. Therefore, redmine plugins are very different from wordpress themes and i strongly believe that the dually licensed plugins here are violating the gpl, because theyre circumventing the gpls intention. Most gpl version 2 software is actually licensed as gpl version 2 or any later version, or. Among other restrictions, you must not modify, reverse engineer, or copy the.
Protect your gpl wordpress plugin business against trolls. The factual accuracy of parts of this article those related to article may be compromised due to outofdate information. Gnu public license is all but free and you should never use. Nov 02, 2016 the gnu general public license exists to protect the liberties of software creators and users alike. Our product, the ffmpeg enabler, includes ffmpeg libraries licensed under lgpl. We can offer such plugins and themes at such a great price because what you are. That takes advantage of a different gpl loophole, which is that you may do anything you want with a local copy of a gpl program, as long as you do not redistribute it. This page contains answers to commonly asked questions about the gnu general public license gpl, version 2. Therefore, redmine plugins are very different from wordpress themes and i strongly believe that the dually licensed plugins here are violating the gpl, because theyre circumventing the gpl s intention. When is a program and its plugins considered a single combined program. One can in theory argue that the opensource developer who creates the gpl vlc.
Distributing software in this configuration is a gpl violation, since you cannot satisfy the gpl terms for the proprietary library. Mar 10, 2020 the same way any license can apply to anything. The ultimate guide to legally protect your gpl wordpress plugin business against trolls march 6, 2020 by vova feldman software licensing can be. It is necessary to distribute redmine plugins under the gpl license. This is a list of notable content management systems that are used to organize and facilitate collaborative content creation. Lgpl isnt compatible with gpl, because it gives something that gpl restricts the ability to include the library in proprietary software. As a special exemption, software plugins using the documented plugin api for this software, will be allowed to be distributed andor runtime linked with this software regardless of their license.
People developing proprietary software or people distributing gstreamer might also. However, when one delves into plugins and and themes, something of a gray area begins to emerge. Wordpress gpl themes and plugins every little thing you. I usually stay away from gpl discussions, but commenting here nonetheless as you brought it up in the shiny updates slack channel. Wordpress is gpl licensed and from what i understood any piece of code which is linked to a gpl software should be a gpl. Now unless the proprietary software has made explicit provisions and apis this is what the linux kernel did, if the plugins are distributed in. Commercial software is not necessarily proprietary software and proprietary. This because the plugins are under gpl licence and you get the exact same plugin. Its not crystal clear whether themes and plugins are legally. Commercial licenses on the other hand talk about the use of the software. Become a gpldl club member and get instant access to the whole wordpress repository. The free software foundation and its sprout the gnu project are a core element of the free and open source software movement.
Does the gpl allow for a proprietary plugin to integrate with a gpld program. May 05, 2020 wordpress gpl themes and plugins every little thing you need to know. As long the application is linked dynamically to lgpl software, the proprietary code can be kept proprietary. Pluginsandlicense general public license, version 3 spdx short identifier.
The one most widely used is the general public license gpl, which we cover in this article. Many theme and plugin developers sell support and facilitated updates in a yearbyyear andor sitebysite basis, and this practice does not violate the gpl, as it does not limit any of the above freedoms the gpl does not require that a user get free support or that the software author facilitate the user updating this software. Many theme and plugin developers sell support and facilitated updates in a yearbyyear andor sitebysite basis, and this practice does not violate the gpl, as it does not limit any of the above freedoms the gpl does not require that a user get free support or that. Jul 09, 2012 technically, the bukkit api is not illegal as it is completely separate from craftbukkit which then makes all of the plugins ok as well just have to be gpled, however, the craftbukkit server software is the issue here as it contains code from. Using gpllicensed components in proprietary projects. According to messenlehner, as part of microsofts big push into opensource software. What is the difference between gpl, agpl and lgpl licenses. If youre using gpl code in your plugin, then you must comply with the license. As a case study, some supposedly proprietary plugins and themesskins for gplv2 cms software such as drupal and. Explaining and understanding the gnu general public license. Mar 17, 2015 the challenge a plugin developer in this situation faces, i think, is that if she takes the non gpl proprietary path, she risks being criticised by those who think the gpl applies to the plugin or at least portions of it or, a separate point, that this approach violates wordpress community norms which is not a legal point at all. Install and activate through your wordpress dashboard. The gnu general public license gnu gpl or gpl is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software. In other words, if spout uses lgpl, i can write a closedsource proprietary tool that uses spout and i dont have to release the source.
Gpl downloads is the best place to get gpl plugins and themes, period. Gpl code can be dynamically linked to binary proprietary code, and the lgpl allows static linking to proprietary binaries. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu project. Does the gpl allow for a proprietary plugin to integrate with a gpl d program. By contrast, the gnu general public license is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free softwareto make sure the software is free for all its users. Frequently asked questions about the gnu licenses gnu. Mar 06, 2020 the ultimate guide to legally protect your gpl wordpress plugin business against trolls march 6, 2020 by vova feldman software licensing can be very confusing subject, especially in the opensource world. Differences between gpl and lgpl when using licensed software.
For example, there are many proprietary programs, including skype and mydropbox, that run on linux, which is gpled. If spout was gpl, i would have to release my source in order to use it. Gpl, also known as copyleft, grants permission to reuse or modify the source code to make derivative works, but if you distribute your program to others, it requires you to license your derivative work under the gpl too. The reason we demand plugins be licensed under the lgpl, even when they are using a gpl library, is that other developers might want to use the plugin code as a template for plugins linking to non gpl libraries. While the gpl license does allow you to reuse, modify and redistribute wordpress for personal as well as commercial purposes, it does require you to release your derivative work under the same license. In practice, its often much easier and safer to keep a bright line between the gpl software and the proprietary software, e. The gnu general public license hereinafter referred to as the gpl was created by computer programmer richard stallman as a rebellious reaction to the enormous growth of proprietary software. Anyway, yesterday i received an interesting question through the ask me a question page of this site. Presumably, one of the reasons that postgresql is bsdlicensed is to avoid issues like this. Frequently asked questions about the gpl make wordpress. Gpl plugins premium wordpress plugins and themes gpl kit.
Gplplugins offers you the same plugins from the original developers but at a fraction of the cost. Id like to incorporate gplcovered software in my proprietary system. If you dont know already, wordpress is a software licensed under the opensource gpl license. Jan 16, 2019 if you dont know already, wordpress is a software licensed under the opensource gpl license.
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