[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #16898: Fix plugins about page license requirement

[WordPress Trac]

#16898: Fix plugins about page license requirement
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 Reporter:  scribu              |       Owner:
     Type:  feature request     |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal              |   Milestone:  WordPress.org
Component:  WordPress.org site  |     Version:
 Severity:  normal              |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                      |
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Comment (by nacin):

 Replying to [comment:6 scribu]:
 > We've already had this discussion on wp-hackers. Here's the link again:
 >
 > http://lists.automattic.com/pipermail/wp-hackers/2011-March/038343.html

 Yes, and while markjaquith was himself considering loosening the
 restriction, he did not fully commit in that direction, and no one else
 did, either.

 I spend a decent amount of my time reading through code in the plugins
 directory. I would hate for a plugin we like for core to be licensed in an
 incompatible way. I would also hate for me to pick up code or an idea from
 a plugin that is licensed in an incompatible way and then end up using
 that in core, thereby doing quite a bit of damage.

 Are either of these going to cause practical problems in our work on core?
 Probably not, no. It does bother me enough to second-guess it, all for the
 sake of including Apache 2.0 or GPLv3 code.

 I'd vote keep the themes directory even with WordPress and the plugins
 directory, but it's not like the chances are high that we would borrow
 code or an idea from a theme for core, so I don't care too much, and I
 declined to suggest to the core team to change what the theme reviewers
 reasonably chose.

 Of course, the case could be made that if there are plugins we want to
 integrate, we could simply ask the author to re-license, and if the author
 is not bound by an external library (or is not long gone), then this would
 be fine. (And, if they are reliant on an incompatible library, it's not
 like we'd be able to use the code under any other circumstances.)

 The reverse case could be made that a plugin author could choose a core-
 incompatible license to avoid ever getting merged into core. While some
 authors like contributing back, others would not like seeing their work be
 absorbed, just as some do not like seeing their work made obsolete by a
 core feature. Is such a hostile acquisition ever going to play out? No, I
 don't imagine so. WordPress's core contributors are highly capable to work
 around unforeseen issues such as these, and as has been pointed out, not
 many plugins find their way into core. (I would certainly suggest far more
 than 10, though.)

 Just some thoughts.

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/16898#comment:7>
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