On Aug 14, 2012, at 6:22 PM, Aaron Coburn wrote: > Kevin, > Are you sure that it is not possible to release the code under the Apache 2.0 > license? > > According to the FSF, the requirement on plugins to GPL software is that the > plugin be GPL or GPL-compatible: > > please see: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLModuleLicense > and: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLAndPlugins > > And also according to the FSF, the Apache 2.0 license is compatible with the > GPL v3: > > http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#GPLCompatibleLicenses > > My reading of all this is that the plugin could be released under the Apache > 2.0 license. > > Aaron > > > > On Aug 14, 2012, at 5:40 PM, Kevan Miller wrote: > >> >> On Aug 13, 2012, at 9:34 AM, Aaron Coburn wrote: >> >>> Thanks, Aahit, >>> This confirms what I have read, namely that any Moodle plugin must be >>> licensed under the GPL. >>> >>> IANAL, but it is pretty clear that the plugin depends entirely on the >>> Moodle infrastructure, runs inside of the Moodle system and uses the Moodle >>> address space -- it is, in effect, "linked" to Moodle and thus generally >>> understood to be a "derivative work". >>> >>> As I understand it, this does not affect the licensing of the VCL, since >>> the Moodle plugin and the VCL system only transfer data. >>> >>> The secondary question is whether the VCL project can properly distribute >>> GPL code. Clearly, this cannot be part of any VCL release. But can the VCL >>> project distribute the plugin from its website, or should I make this >>> available from some independent location? >> >> From http://apache.org/legal/resolved.html#category-x , the answer is pretty >> clearly no. >> >> This seems like a good candidate for Apache Extras -- >> http://community.apache.org/apache-extras/faq.html
Hi Aaron, I was responding to the content of your email from the 13th. IIRC, the guidance from legal-discuss was that you should explore non-ASF routes for releasing the software. I haven't looked at the specifics of Moodle and plugin licensing. I don't have a lot of time to do so, at the moment... What is it that you'd like to "release" from the ASF? AL v2 source code? that users then build and package with Moodle? What GPL license is Moodle licensed under? How are you interpreting "the terms of the GPL must be followed when those plug-ins are distributed"? --kevan
