GPL v2 or v3?
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:10 pm
Which version of the GPL is Open Dental distributed under - v2 or v3?
Also, I'm trying to determine what our obligations are under the GPL regarding plugins.
This paragraph (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLAndPlugins) seems to indicate that our plugins must be distributed under the GPL:
Thanks,
Also, I'm trying to determine what our obligations are under the GPL regarding plugins.
This paragraph (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLAndPlugins) seems to indicate that our plugins must be distributed under the GPL:
Jordan, what is your opinion on this? I found this on the Developer's section of the OD website:If a program released under the GPL uses plug-ins, what are the requirements for the licenses of a plug-in?
It depends on how the program invokes its plug-ins. If the program uses fork and exec to invoke plug-ins, then the plug-ins are separate programs, so the license for the main program makes no requirements for them.
If the program dynamically links plug-ins, and they make function calls to each other and share data structures, we believe they form a single program, which must be treated as an extension of both the main program and the plug-ins. This means the plug-ins must be released under the GPL or a GPL-compatible free software license, and that the terms of the GPL must be followed when those plug-ins are distributed.
If the program dynamically links plug-ins, but the communication between them is limited to invoking the ‘main’ function of the plug-in with some options and waiting for it to return, that is a borderline case.
The light of the above paragraphs from GNU, is that still your opinion?It can be difficult to interpret the GPL and to determine whether a proprietary plug-in is allowed. We have absolutely no problem with proprietary plug-ins, and our interpretation of the GPL is that it's allowed because it's a separate assembly.
Thanks,