[wp-hackers] Plugin Licensing

[Andy Charrington-Wilden]

How much would have to change in the codebase to make WP no longer a derivative? Surely once it changes enough the gpl becomes void? 

I am not sure having two stems of wordpress is the best solution but it would allow developers to profit from their work directly. I for one would be up for discussing and contributing to a second version of WP. 

Andy

Jealous Designs
Website: jealousdesigns.co.uk
Portfolio: jealousdesigns.co.uk/portfolio
Phone: 07903030008
Twitter: _a_n_d_y
Skype: andycharrington 

Sent from my iPhone

On 13 Mar 2011, at 04:45, "John 3:16 Media" <wp at john316media.com> wrote:

> I doubt its even feasible to find and contact each contributor as there have
> been so many over time.  But that really gets away from the point of this
> discussion.
> 
> On Sat, Mar 12, 2011 at 8:05 PM, Piyush Mishra <me at piyushmishra.com> wrote:
> 
>> I didn't know WP was a derivative. I am no lawyer and can't comment on
>> anything legal here. :(
>> 
>> Why would all contributors not agree?
>> 
>> If they don't agree for double license.
>> All I can say is, all the contributors are missing out on making WordPress
>> a
>> far superior blogging s/w / CMS.
>> The money can be used in making GSoC type internship oppurtunities, you can
>> hold free online tutorials.
>> People can be hired to complete the documentation and also to write
>> alternate WP cores for considering other possibilities and benchmarks.
>> WP can fund development of some plugins etc like BuddyPress...
>> We can have LTS versions with a closed paid group focusing on that. Core
>> plugins can be made possible etc etc etc...
>> Who would say no to that?
>> 
>> Though no point dreaming now :(
>> 
>> On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Ryan McCue <lists at rotorised.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Chip Bennett wrote:
>>>> That would be a rather blatant GPL violation. WordPress is a derivative
>>> of
>>>> B2, which was licensed under GPL. Therefore, WPF cannot legally license
>>>> WordPress under anything other than GPL, nor can it distribute
>> obfuscated
>>>> code without also releasing the cleartext source.
>>> 
>>> Additionally, there is no copyright assignment, so you would require
>>> every single person who has contributed to WordPress to agree to
>>> relicense it. And that's not going to happen. :)
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Ryan McCue
>>> <http://ryanmccue.info/>
>>> 
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>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Regards
>> Piyush Mishra
>> http://www.piyushmishra.com/
>> Life's Short, Live it to the maximum
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>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> I'm working on a support ticket plugin and I'm looking for users to test and
> provide feedback on it.  Will bribe anyone who helps with a generous
> discount on the final product.  Email me off-list if interested.
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