On Dec 8, 2009, at 9:16 AM, Lutz Hühnken wrote:
Hi Jan, thanks for the quick reply. While we're at it... what does GPL mean for a CMS like Magnolia? I think it is pretty clear, if I was to publish or sell or distribute a CMS based on Magnolia CE, it would have to be open source.
In fact, you would probably wont to OEM Magnolia if you want to distribute your own solution containing Magnolia. If you want to open- source your work, the first route should be to work with Magnolia to provide the functionality you want as add-ons (modules) instead of launching your own distribution. The Magnolia community is small enough as it stands; further diluting it wouldn't benefit anybody.
But what about modules? If I built a Magnolia module that would be distributed on its own, but needs Magnolia to run and uses / links to Magnolia libraries / jars - could that be distributed under a closed source license?
I believe you can write modules that have any license you want as long as they are not distributed with Magnolia, but this is not a binding legal agreement. The GPL is the only binding agreement. I suggest you talk to a lawyer that understands the implications of GPL.
The suggested route is to talk to us and use Magnolia's distribution channel for your solution. I have seen too many agencies trying to do their own thing to no avail. This is short-sighted, see below.
What about page templates? They would contain tags from the Magnolia taglib... does that mean they would have to be GPLed (or compatible), too?
Could be.
Don't get me wrong... I don't plan on creating a Magnolia competitor. But we build web sites for customer based on Magnolia CE, and these licensing questions just keep coming up.
As long as you only build sites, you should have no issue. As soon as you build your own modules and distribute them with Magnolia, these need to be GPL.
Now, beyond all legal considerations, you should try to look at it from an ecosystem perspective. You (and your clients) are using software that you did not pay cash for. It is generally expected that therefore, your investment is in a different form - by contributing back to the community. Beyond that moral obligation, there is also good business sense - if you build a module that is useful, this module should be made available for everyone in the community. This will considerably raise your company profile and establish you as a valid part of the community in the eyes of potential customers. At the same time, it provides more value to everybody in the community at large, thus increasing the popularity and visibility of Magnolia, which in turn will make it easier for you to attract customers (the cake gets bigger for all of us). Finally, open-sourcing a module will make it better (if you attract others to it).
Is there a FAQ or a wiki page regarding licensing questions?
Yes, on the web, but it doesn't cover your questions (they are not that frequent yet ;-))
HTH - Boris ---------------------------------------------------------------- For list details see http://www.magnolia-cms.com/home/community/mailing-lists.html To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[email protected]> ----------------------------------------------------------------
