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

[WordPress Trac]

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

Comment (by WraithKenny):

 The prohibition on Apache/GPLv3 extend to the JavaScript libraries as per
 policy? I can't imagine it's a concern that a core developer may read non
 GPLv2 code from a JavaScript library marked with a GPLv2 incompatible
 license (but GPLv2 compatible license) and contaminate core with that
 JavaScript. Perhaps the prohibition should be that the non-library PHP
 code in the plugin should be "GPLv2" but the plugin as a whole can be "GPL
 compatible"? (I mean the concern is php code reuse right?)

 Is there a Matrix of sorts (like http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-
 faq.html#AllCompatibility ) that allows "GPLv2 or later" to contain "GPLv2
 only" or "GPLv2 or later" PHP code, while using "GPLv2 or later," "GPLv3,"
 or "Apache 2.0" licensed libraries? (I can't figure it out.)

 I've would have to move my plugin to a "GPL3" or "GPLv3 or later" license
 if it's not valid to license the combined package of the "GPLv2" and
 "GPLv2 or later" PHP code with JavaScript libraries (licensed as "MIT" and
 "Apache 2.0") as a "GPLv2 or later" plugin. Up til now I've believed that
 I've licensed it correctly. (The addition of the Apache 2 licensed library
 is very recent.)

 Judging from this ticket tho, I may have to hire a lawyer, remove the
 library, or switch to GPLv3 and stop hosting it on wordpress.org (which
 would suck).

 (Alternatively, I could write the plugin in a way that remotely pulls in
 and possibly caches the less.js library so that it's external and doesn't
 impact licensing, but that's a hoop and a half ain't it...)

 On a related note, I've spend many hours looking for tutorials on how to
 properly mark and license code all with no luck. Specifically, I'd like to
 know how to mark the php classes and functions that I've written from
 scratch as copyrighted and licensed one way, and the code I've borrowed
 from core as marked as appropriate, and a combined plugin copyright and
 license markup. I've not found any tutorials anywhere for this.

 Why's this stuff gotta be so hard. Also, you shouldn't rely on the license
 header line (or any other self declaration) being correct as coders barely
 understand what to put there.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/16898#comment:45>
WordPress Trac <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress blogging software