[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 Otto42):

 Replying to [comment:27 mikeschinkel]:
 > Not incompatible with GPLv3.

 Which has it's own problems as well. IMO.


 > Restrictive?  [http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/apache2.xml Apache
 2.0 has fewer ''requirements'' of users] than GPLv2; not sure how you see
 it as more restrictive than GPL.  Maybe it's ''different'' restrictions,
 but certainly one is not ''objectively'' ''less'' restrictive than
 another.
 >
 > What restrictions would those be, specifically?

 In Apache 2.0 specifically, I object to the patent rights clause. While I
 do believe that software patents are evil/wrong/bad, I think that this is
 a political issue. I dislike the notion of having code I write or
 contribute to using its license as a means of pushing political ideology.
 More to the point, I think that this discourages innovation. I write and
 release code with the GPLv2 so that it can be used to benefit all parties.
 Adding terms like these discourage use of that code by parties which may
 have related patents. Requiring them to blanket grant the necessary rights
 doesn't benefit them, and if they use an alternate set of code then it
 doesn't benefit me either.

 JMO, of course.


 > And is this about the WordPress plugin repository policies, or about
 Otto's personal preference?

 I'm only arguing what I think and explaining how we currently handle
 things. If you want a change in policy decisions, then you're chatting
 with the wrong person.


 > Or are they one and the same? If not, would you support a policy that
 you strongly dislike if it were in the best interest of the WordPress
 community at large, or fight for your preference?  This is a serious
 rhetorical question.

 I do not currently believe that it is in the best interest of the
 community to allow non-GPLv2 compatible code into the repositories. I
 think that the GPLv3 and Apache 2.0 licenses are "less free", for the
 definition of "free" that applies to me specifically. I will not use this
 code myself because I object to the licensing.


 > Then @Rarst and I will be compiling a list of plugins for you to remove.
 We'll get it to you as soon as we've compiled it.

 Fine with me. Sending me a text listing of the slugs-only would be the
 most helpful. I'm happy to send the affected authors an email to attempt
 to get them to change.

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/16898#comment:28>
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