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

[WordPress Trac]

#37307: Differentiate non-GPL plugins and themes for users
--------------------------------+-----------------------------
 Reporter:  Zuige               |      Owner:
     Type:  enhancement         |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal              |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  General             |    Version:  4.4.3
 Severity:  normal              |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  ui, administration  |
--------------------------------+-----------------------------
 There are a lot of WordPress plugins in circulation that ship with a non-
 GPL compatible license.

 The wordpress.org plugin repository, of course, only contains plugins that
 ship with the GPL license, and we are all well aware that all WordPress
 plugins are considered derivatives and should thusly be licensed under the
 GPL. This does not remove the fact that not everyone agrees with this, and
 still vendors insist on shipping with proprietary software licenses.

 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.

 The readme.txt already always contains the license field, but currently
 the licenses aren't shown anywhere in the plugins.php UI.

 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.

 It would also be useful to somehow also explain (e.g. in a tooltip
 perhaps) what it means that a plugin author has decided to ship their
 plugin with a non-GPL license.

 I would love discussion on how the license field could be indicated in
 plugins.php.

 Ideas:
 - Part of the Shiny Updates feature?
 - Should clearly indicate when a plugin is NOT using a GPL compatible
 license
 - Colour coding different licenses
 - A tooltip that would explain the use of GPL vs. proprietary licenses

 Related: #29820

--
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/37307>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress publishing platform