[theme-reviewers] GPL and limiting usage

[Bryan Hadaway]

*@Otto*

You make some very valid points as well, it's a two-sided coin for sure.

Yes, ultimately, marketing, fine print and expectations are a grey area
with most companies to always be considered. Certainly, you can't really
police something that thoroughly and force all companies to be super
transparent and friendly in their marketing materials. I completely agree.

Using DMS as an example here however, because this is one case where it is
a legitimate example of the issues raised in this discussion (which I
didn't even start mind you) and not just an issue of perception, other
people had concerns of their own, naturally. Yes, the theme has not been
approved yet, but it seemed appropriate to raise these issues before it
was, rather than after.

I don't feel comfortable commenting on this ticket for conflict of interest
reasons, so I wanted to raise my concerns to you and Chip and since someone
else brought up this discussion anyways, I added my 2 cents. Like you
stepped in on the old ticket, I thought it would be important for you to
step in again and reiterate that the GPL issues from the old ticket had not
been resolved as apposed to leaving it to the current reviewer who (correct
me if I'm wrong) appears to be a brand new reviewer just practicing his
first couple reviews? Certainly not a good match for this sensitive of a
ticket, if so.

*@Emil*

I respectfully disagree. Essentially, who cares about the ticket in the
grand scheme of things? That's just one example that helps illustrate a
problem in the larger discussion that we're having that clearly concerns
many of us. Should all twelve of us really jump into someone's ticket to
discuss this overall general issue that doesn't just pertain to that ticket?

No one's poking anyone in the eye, issues in tickets often are used as
examples or to illustrate a new precedent that leads to a theme list
question or bigger discussion towards better understanding for all of us.
It seems these discussions always get derailed into discussions about the
facets of discussion itself instead of staying on topic. It's
counter-productive in my opinion.

*@Everyone*

Back to the topic. My understanding of the GPL is that once you buy
something licensed under the GPL, that's it, you only buy it once and as
soon as you have access to its contents you can use on as many personal and
commercial projects as you need without limitation.

Also, that you don't have to pay for the same exact software more than once
(like a monthly fee), once it's in your possession that's it. Not to stir
up any confusion, this isn't to say that charging monthly for support is
not acceptable, but that the software itself cannot be rendered limited or
cut-off in any way if you choose to stop paying.

Granted you might be charged for upgrades if you so choose to upgrade (many
shops charge for major upgrades, respectively), but that the current
software in your possession cannot be tethered in any monetary fashion to
your ease of use or amount of usage with some sort of kill switch.

Would anyone disagree with that?
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