GPL limitations

  • [email protected]

    (@johnsislerinfo)


    16 years ago

    There is a criticism on Serendipity that indicates that you cannot use WP to make a for-profit site without violating the licensing.

    I was under the impression that the license protected Automattic from having people use the code base to create a new CMS for resale and that using it with plug-ins (like paypal) to manage a site for profit was legitimate.

    Does anyone understand the GPL enough to help point me in the direction to learn more about what can and cannot be done with WP?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • asechrest

    (@asechrest)

    I’m certainly no expert, but I think Serendipity has it wrong. There are plenty of for-profit sites that use WordPress.

    Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the GPL license also allows repackaging and redistributing, but the redistributed version must be issued under GPL as well (i.e. free, open source, etc.).

    Thread Starter [email protected]

    (@johnsislerinfo)

    Thanks,

    I also reached out to Mark Jaquith about this and he replied with a link to the latest GPL versions FAQ.

    Also, he mentioned like you, asechrest, that re-packaging without adhering to licensing is more the aim of the GPL.

    Thanks again,

    Elpie

    (@elpie)

    The GPL is a copyright license that gives everyone the right to use WordPress, hack it, modify it, turn it inside out if they want, but if it is then redistributed it must be distributed under the terms of the GNU/General Public License.

    There is no restriction on the types of sites it can be used on, whether for-profit or not. There is actually no restriction on selling WordPress either although anyone would be nuts to do so since it can be downloaded freely by anyone.

    If someone wanted to fork WordPress and use it as a base for developing a CMS they can do this too – as long as the license is complied with and the resulting code is under the same license. (WordPress itself was created from pre-existing GPL code).

    So, in a nutshell, those people on Serendipity don’t know what they are talking about!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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