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Open Source Does Matter ...
Joomla! is moving to
ensure the future of the project by committing to compliance with the
GNU/GPL license. This decision reflects a lengthy introspection
combined with legal considerations to properly secure the project in
the spirit of Open Source. For us, for everyone, Open Source does
matter.
It's a long, slow road. We're not going to make any
sudden moves because we know that a lot of people are relying on us to
maintain some stability and meet expectations. We are very much aware
that a lot of people make their living around Joomla!, and we are
sensitive to producing sudden disruptions in livelihoods.
Joomla!
is a unique project with unique needs and unique GPL issues. Solutions
won't just come off the shelf. There are solutions and compromises on
these issues that we are still exploring, and we want to keep hearing
from the community so we can get it right.
We will provide facts
as soon as we have them. If we seem too silent, it's because we don't
want to speak until we can do so clearly and confidently. And you'll
have plenty of notice before any large changes get made.
Here's
the plan: first, we clean our own house and bring the Joomla! sites
into compliance. Next, we ask people in the community to voluntarily
comply with the license. At the same time, we try to help people
understand what it takes to comply and how they can do it easily. We
believe we're going to get a lot of compliance that way.
So
far, that's the entire plan. No lawsuits, no pogroms, no martyrs. More
to the point, no shouting, no demonisation, and no drawing lines
between us and them . It's a big community with many kinds of
developers, and we want solutions that will work for everybody.
Sticking with the GPL
We
have decided to stay with the license that made Joomla! possible.
Unanimously supported by the core team and supported by the Open Source
Matters board, this confirms that both Joomla! 1.0 and Joomla! 1.5 are
released under the (pure) GPL.
We've also decided that we do not
have the authority to publish Joomla! under a version of the GPL that
gives exceptions for proprietary extensions. It's difficult to
relicense a GPL'd project, and there is no indication that OSM
currently has that ability. Our current understanding is that
extensions that aren't released under the GPL or compatible licenses
are non-compliant, and that view is based on the guidance of both the
Free Software Foundation and the Software Freedom Law Center.
There
is a bit of complication here in that if extensions are separate works
under copyright law, they are beyond the reach of the GPL, and are thus
compliant even if they are not GPL-compatible. The current
architecture makes it extremely difficult to write nontrivial
extensions that are separate works. We are currently researching our
options in this area.
By sticking with the GPL, we hope to achieve several objectives:
- increase GPL compliance in our community
- bring the project up to a representative standard shared by other like-minded open source projects
- follow through on our commitment (http://www.opensourcematters.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=1 Itemid=1) that the project should lead by example and engender open source philosophy
- move to educate on ways for commercial Joomla! based projects to be both profitable and compliant
We Need Your Help
We've
worked through considerable growing pains already and the next steps
will, no doubt, not be without challenges. Paramount in our
considerations has been the users of this community and we understand
sometimes taking tough decisions treads on a few toes. We are being
entirely earnest in asking you to help in the process by doing what you
can to support the foundations of the GPL and the protections it
affords. We are also more than prepared to facilitate workshops to
assist people through the process of achieving compliance.
The
size and popularity of Joomla! extends well beyond our site; it
provides a powerful tool for communities, government and non-government
agencies, businesses and individuals. We have chosen to take a more
difficult path by adhering to the GPL without ambiguity. If you're
asked why Joomla! is taking these steps, the answer is simple. We were
growing up, we made some mistakes and we're moving to correct those
mistakes for the future of the project. We want to be responsible
neighbours in both the GPL community and the Joomla! community.
The Joomla! Core Team and Open Source Matters
Brad Baker
Shayne Bartlett
Levis Bisson
Michelle Bisson
Chris Davenport
Wilco Jansen
Johan Janssens
Alex Kempkens
Mateusz Krzeszowiec
Louis Landry
Andy Miller
Sam Moffatt
Peter Russell
Rob Schley
Antonie de Wilde
James Vasile
Christopher Justice
Elin Waring
Ryan Ozimek
Joe Orr
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