[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #37307: Indicate non-GPL plugins and themes for users

[WordPress Trac]

#37307: Indicate non-GPL plugins and themes for users
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 Reporter:  Zuige        |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal       |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  General      |     Version:  4.4.3
 Severity:  normal       |  Resolution:
 Keywords:               |     Focuses:  ui, administration
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Comment (by swissspidy):

 I usually stay away from GPL discussions, but commenting here nonetheless
 as you brought it up in the Shiny Updates Slack channel.

 > For the regular WordPress user installing plugins from outside of the
 wordpress.org plugin repository, there is practically no way to
 differentiate a plugin that ships with the GPL license, and a plugin
 vendor that chooses to ship with a proprietary license.

 Worth keeping in mind that the average user doesn't know the differences
 between GPL and other licenses. It simply is hard to explain to someone.

 > I propose we add a license indicator in the plugins.php UI. This would
 help the user make better choices by choosing to use plugins that ship
 with a free software license.

 What's the benefit in showing the license of a plugin that is already
 installed? The majority of users only installs plugins from WordPress.org.
 Telling them "Hey, your plugins are 100% GPL" isn't helpful.

 If a non-GPL plugin is already installed, does the user even care? It's
 already installed, so what? Should they uninstall it again even though
 it's working just fine? They don't know the difference between all these
 licenses anyway.

 > Part of the Shiny Updates feature?

 I don't see this being related to the shiny process of updating and
 installing plugins.

 ----

 To sum this up, I have one question: Why?

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/37307#comment:3>
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