Handling Plugin Abandonment/Adoption

[Ryan]

If the name doesn't change, then it's not really a fork, it's just a change of developers.

[Elpie]

FWIW, I don't support removing old plugins to a hard-to-find area. People want to access code for all kinds of reasons, not just to install the latest, greatest plugin for the latest, greatest WordPress release.

All the old versions of WordPress are available for people to study and use how they want so whats the big drive to throw out plugins? The only plugins worth retiring are the ones that have had no downloads in a year.

[Elpie]

If the name doesn't change, then it's not really a fork, it's just a change of developers.

It can still be a fork. There's nothing in the GPL that states the name given to the code must change.

The GPL does require copyright notices to be kept but most people dont get what a copyright notice is. They throw in the license and forget the notice. So, something is licensed under GPL but who licensed it? Who holds the copyright? If you add that into your plugins other developers are not permitted to remove it. They can add their own and state the file has been modified by them, but they can't make you disappear.

[Ryan]

Ah, okay. I see where you are coming from there. I guess that depends on your perspective as to whether it's a fork or not.