[wp-hackers] Plugin Licensing

[Chip Bennett]

Personally, I agree with you - and in the long-run, I think that forcing the
GPL-inheritance matter in the way it has been thus far pursued will be
damaging to both the community and to the project.

But there's not really anything I can do about that. So, I try to pick my
battles, and try to operate within the WordPress meritocracy by finding ways
to contribute. (And when need be, I head over to the WPTavern forum and
vent. :) )

I don't envy the situation you're in. There are times when I've thought
about trying to build a WordPress-centric business, but at other times, it
seems that the wise choice is to wait and to see where the dust settles
regarding viable third-party WordPress business models.

Chip

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 1:21 PM, Trent Martin <trentmar at gmail.com> wrote:

> > (Admittedly, this stance on principle is not much of a sacrifice for me.
> The
> > food I put on my family's table doesn't in any way depend on anything I
> > contribute to the WordPress community.)
>
> Unfortunately, some of us completely depend on our software to put food on
> the table and pay the mortgage and it really sucks when someone in
> Indonesia
> starts selling your software for $5 and it is completely legal for them to
> do that if it is GPL. I write software for Windows and Microsoft doesn't
> own
> me, why should writing software for WordPress be any different? The stuff I
> sell is 100% my own code and I do not derive from WordPress any more than
> WordPress derives from Apache. A plugin is not a derivative work and most
> legal experts (other than the FSF) agree, but again facts don't make a
> difference to the inner circle, either you obey them or you are shunned.
>
> And who says you can't contribute to the community in other ways? I do
> provide free plugins and have contributed a number of bug reports. Also, by
> creating software that people use, even if it is proprietary, you are still
> contributing to the value of the community and to WordPress as a platform.
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 12:08 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
> wrote:
>
> > There are two competing priorities: the legal concerns, and the ethical
> > concerns. Here's how I've made my peace with the conflict between the
> two:
> >
> > I don't think anyone would question my stance on the matter of WordPress
> > Themes/Plugins being inherently derivative works of WordPress. I've been
> as
> > outspoken as anyone on that matter.
> >
> > However, I accept that the WordPress community has rightfully defined its
> > own ethos with respect to acceptable licensing of WordPress Plugins and
> > Themes. I can stand on legal principle and disagree with that ethos - and
> > as
> > a result, become outcast from the WordPress community; or, I can choose
> > willingly to give up some of my own freedom and legal rights (of
> licensing
> > choice for works for which I own the copyright), in order to conform to
> the
> > ethos of the WordPress community.
> >
> > For me, the choice is easy: I want to be a part of the community, and I
> > want
> > to give back (what little I am able), in a "pay it forward" sense that
> > makes
> > licensing my WordPress-related code under GPL. So, I choose to do so.
> >
> > (Admittedly, this stance on principle is not much of a sacrifice for me.
> > The
> > food I put on my family's table doesn't in any way depend on anything I
> > contribute to the WordPress community.)
> >
> > Others may choose differently, for differing reasons. But I've made my
> > choice - even as I remain outspoken regarding the lack of copyright case
> > law
> > precedent for claiming that copyright law considers *dependent* code,
> > absent
> > any actual incorporation of copyrightable code, to be *derivative* code.
> >
> > To be sure: what you *believe* matters. But what matters much more are
> the
> > *choices* you make, based on what you believe.
> >
> > Chip
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Trent Martin <trentmar at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > You just have to face it, either you follow Matt's philosophy and let
> > other
> > > people copy and even resell your stuff or the WordPress/Automattic
> inner
> > > circle will completely shun you from the community. It doesn't matter
> if
> > > your code is 100% your own work and distributed separately from
> > WordPress,
> > > if it touches WordPress in any way Matt says it is a derivative work.
> You
> > > can use all the logic, facts, and legal precedents you want but it
> won't
> > > make any difference to them, it's either GPL or you're out.
> > >
> > > None of the core bloggers will let you advertise on their sites, they
> > will
> > > refuse to let you sponsor Word Camps, and you will basically be treated
> > as
> > > a
> > > bastard in the community. If you try to converse with important people
> in
> > > the community and they find out you sell non-GPL software, the
> > conversation
> > > abruptly ends.
> > >
> > > Also, you cannot advertise your plugin on wordpress.org and of course
> > > cannot
> > > use any of the distribution or update methods built into wordpress so
> > your
> > > customers are forced to manually update your software.
> > >
> > > So yeah go ahead and argue.
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> > >
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