The WordPress developers have just clarified its license as “GPL version 2 or later,” putting an end to some frequent confusion. WordPress contains libraries which are licensed under the GPL “version 2 or any later version,” which obviously excludes version 1 of the GPL. Here is the reality: the GPL version 1 is effectively irrelevant. It hasn’t been a commonly used license since before Matt Mullenweg was in third grade! Clarifying WordPress as being licensed under the GPL “version 2 or later” resolves these niggling library licensing concerns or ambiguities, and clarifies where WordPress stands. As with any licensing discussion, the post has generated some interesting comments, which makes for some entertaining (if not educational) weekend reading.
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Posts Tagged ‘gpl’
Thesis has officially adopted a split GPL license, putting an end to the explosive debate between WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg and Thesis developer Chris Pearson which launched a community-wide discussion on the GPL and WordPress themes. To clarify the split GPL license, Chris Pearson adds, “the PHP is GPLv2 and the CSS, JS, and images are proprietary.” Specifically, this means that Thesis no longer violates the GPL of WordPress and the several plugins that Thesis was based on. Matt Mullenweg was thrilled to hear the news, replying with, “Now, back to work. This has taken a lot of my time over the past few days and was going to consume more if it went forward.” It is unknown if this will have any affect on Mr. Pearson’s business. While the split GPL license now allows the core of Thesis be redistributed by a third-party either free or for a fee, the […]
[Continue Reading...]Yesterday, I wrote about a problem Matt had about the GPL license with the Thesis Theme. Though I am not biased and seriously do not want to get into an argument about it, let me put forth an argument that I think is really worth thinking about.
[Continue Reading...]At last check, there were 6,769 plugins available on the repository. Many of these plugins overlap each other providing similar or the same exact functionality. Over the past few months, I’ve heard developers tell me about particular plugins which were gaining in popularity in the repository were nothing more than ripoffs of their own creation. But, plugins on the repository are filed under the GPL meaning modifying and redistribution of code is completely valid. To make matters worse, many of the plugins that make use of another plugins code do not contain any form of credit acknowledging the plugin author or where the code came from. I know this because I’ve taken a look at the source code of some of the plugins in question and if you didn’t know any better, they wrote the entire thing themselves. While I could ask the same questions regarding themes, I would like […]
[Continue Reading...]I have been following the WordPress Theme GPL discussion very closely for as long as I have been involved with WordPress and I am glad that Matt, with the help of the Software Freedom Law Center, has cleared the air. There has been a lot of valuable discussion surrounding this blog post and the issue, here is a small list of what I have read. Lloyd’s analysis on GPL and themes Daniel’s view from the other side of the fence (be sure to read through the comments, there is a lot of wisdom there) WPTavern’s forum post on the blog dev blog post and the forum post(s) leading up to it Brian Gardner wants the community to move on Other miscellaneous posts on the issue I am a huge proponent of the GPL and consider it to be one of the primary pillars of WordPress, both as a piece of […]
[Continue Reading...]The Official WordPress Commercial Theme Directory is now open. It is linked off the WordPress Extend and is part of the parent theme directory set of links. It is not as much a directory as it is a listing of sites that offer commercial GPL themes. It lists the philosophies, a few words about the business models and the need for the encouragement, a list of screenshots and links to the various theme sites and then a list of criterion for inclusion into this site. I like the succinct explanation of the purpose and the listing criterion seem simple and straightforward to follow. Send your information to themes at wordpress dot org to get included in the list. From the site, if you want to be included: Distribute 100% GPL themes, including artwork and CSS. Have professional support options, and optionally customization. Your site should be complete, well-designed, up to […]
[Continue Reading...]Cory Miller’s iThemes is now completely GPL compliant! This is great news indeed and they are the second premium theme vendor who fully support the GPL and align their business models with that of WordPress and its community. Cory is a friend of mine and in full disclosure, has been an advertiser on this blog in the past. We have had various discussions about this topic and I am very happy that they have made the switch. Everyone will be better off for it. This change means that all themes purchased from iThemes can be installed on multiple blogs without restriction but they will continue to be supported as before. iThemes will continue to sell their themes and packages and provide the support for their themes but their themes will now be licensed under the GPL. This will mean more freedom for developers working with iThemes products (and thus more […]
[Continue Reading...]If you are a premium theme developer or have an interest in WordPress themes, you may have heard that over 200 themes were removed from the WordPress.org theme repository. The reasons behind the removals have yet to be made public and there is more afoot than just the removal of themes. Over the course of the past few days, debates and discussions have been taking place on numerous blogs regarding WordPress, the GPL, themes and much more. Matt has agreed to appear on WordPress Weekly on Thursday at 1 P.M. EST to set the record straight so to speak. My goal for this special episode of the show is to get an explanation as to what happened with the theme repository, the new guidelines, Matt’s stance on the GPL, the entire issue of premium themes, what will happen with plugins and a whole lot more. This episode is really important […]
[Continue Reading...]About the Author
- James
James began using WordPress in 2004. Being new to WordPress (and blogging in general), he quickly found the WordPress Support Forums and basically never left. James currently resides in sunny Southern California, where he enjoys bringing happiness to millions of WordPress.com users.
Web: http://macmanx.com
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