[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 Ipstenu):

 To quote GNU on this one:

 Apache's outright no.

 > Please note that this license is not compatible with GPL version 2,
 because it has some requirements that are not in the older version. These
 include certain patent termination and indemnification provisions.

 GPLv3 and GPLv2 are more complicated.

 > Please note that GPLv3 is not compatible with GPLv2 by itself. However,
 most software released under GPLv2 allows you to use the terms of later
 versions of the GPL as well. When this is the case, you can use the code
 under GPLv3 to make the desired combination.

 Which leads you to http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-
 faq.html#AllCompatibility

 and http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#v2v3Compatibility

 > '''Is GPLv3 compatible with GPLv2? (#v2v3Compatibility)'''
 >
 > No. Some of the requirements in GPLv3, such as the requirement to
 provide Installation Information, do not exist in GPLv2. As a result, the
 licenses are not compatible: if you tried to combine code released under
 both these licenses, you would violate section 6 of GPLv2.
 >
 > However, if code is released under GPL “version 2 or later,” that is
 compatible with GPLv3 because GPLv3 is one of the options it permits.

 So clearly GPLv3 can use GPLv2-or-later code, but GPLv2 ''cannot'' use
 GPLv3. Not backwards compatible if that makes sense.

 And that also gives us:

 >  If you have the ability to release the project under GPLv2 or any later
 version, you can choose to release it under GPLv3 or any later version—and
 once you do that, you'll be able to incorporate the code released under
 GPLv3.

 So ... Basically you'd have to CONVERT GPLv2 to GPLv3 in order to truly
 release as that. Which we can't do for core (sign off from every dev to
 change the license, ain't realistic), ''and'' we already know that plugins
 have to be compatible with GPLv2 since they use WP functions etc.

 The reason themes are okay is that they can be dual licensed, I suspect.
 The WP specific code is GPLv2, where as the non WP stuff is not. So
 Akismet, for example, is GPLv2 for what's in the repo, '''but''' it's
 service stuff on it's own servers doesn't need to be. Themes don't phone
 home and must be self contained so they're handled differently.

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/16898#comment:17>
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