OIO Is GPL Or Not?

[Jeffro]

I would love to write a review of OIO Publisher because it's an awesome plugin that manages my advertising on WPTavern.com. I've missed out on so many months of potential affiliate income because I was never sure if OIO was GPL or not.

I created the following thread on the OIO Forums and the response basically outlines that the code that relies on WordPress is GPL but the other stuff is not because it's not touching WordPress.

OIO Publisher And The GPL - OIOpublisher Forum

I'm guessing you folks would need to have access to the plugin to actually determine if this was the case or not?

[chipbennett]

I would love to write a review of OIO Publisher because it's an awesome plugin that manages my advertising on WPTavern.com. I've missed out on so many months of potential affiliate income because I was never sure if OIO was GPL or not.

I created the following thread on the OIO Forums and the response basically outlines that the code that relies on WordPress is GPL but the other stuff is not because it's not touching WordPress.

OIO Publisher And The GPL - OIOpublisher Forum

I'm guessing you folks would need to have access to the plugin to actually determine if this was the case or not?

Devil's Advocate: would doing a review of OIO be any different than, say, doing a review of Akismet?

[andreasnrb]

Chip its not like Akismet since there is non gpl code in the plugin it self. Its part "wp" plugin part library sort of.

[chipbennett]

Chip its not like Akismet since there is non gpl code in the plugin it self. Its part "wp" plugin part library sort of.

Unless I'm misunderstanding how it works: how is it unlike Akismet? It appears to be a software service, connected to WP via API, with the WordPress-facing components being GPL.

Is that not how it works?

[andreasnrb]

Well its both. A library that is used to connect to the service among other things plus parts that is used to interact with WordPress.
Says so in his comment. The non-gpl code resides in the oio folder in the plugin I think and is included in the plugin as a library.

[chipbennett]

Well its both. A library that is used to connect to the service among other things plus parts that is used to interact with WordPress.
Says so in his comment. The non-gpl code resides in the oio folder in the plugin I think and is included in the plugin as a library.

Ah, yeah, then I see the problem.

Of course, The resultant package is a combination, not a derivative work - not that said distinction gets around the free-software philosophy (the so-called GPL "spirit") issue. Suffice it to say: there is nothing legally compelling him to distribute his proprietary license under GPL.

As for his commitment to free-software principles: his is license lets users do anything they want to and with his code, except for distribute it. I can understand that some will have a problem with his stance, and if that problem presents a problem for you with respect to reviewing, promoting, or providing an affiliate link for the plugin, then don't.

Jeff: I'd do whatever your conscience tells you to do. If you want to use it, then use it. If you want to review it, then review it. If you want to provide an affiliate link, then do so. If you have a guilty conscience about doing any of that, then don't. :) Beyond that, I'll refrain from advising you regarding your use and/or promotion of proprietary code, because we have different biases and motivations - none of which need to be rehashed in this thread.

[Ryan]

If it's border line, I'd be inclined to just roll with whatever suits you best or as Chip put it "whatever your conscience tells you to do". There's always going to be grey areas in life and you are bound to accidentally move into the grey on occasion anyway. So long as you are upfront that you are unclear on the situation or that it is border-line then I don't think anyone will mind.

At the very least, you may get a conversation going on the subject which may answer the question on it's GPL legality for you.

[Otto]

Unlike themes, plugins do not necessarily have to tightly integrate with WordPress, so yes, it's entirely possible for a plugin to be non-GPL except for the small portion of it which talks to WordPress.

My standard example of this is Bad Behavior. While the plugin as a whole is GPL, the plugin is not WordPress specific. It'll work with several blog systems, and even as standalone generic-PHP code. Only the bit that ties into WordPress (one file) *must* be GPL.

[Utkarsh]

Only the bit that ties into WordPress (one file) *must* be GPL.

Then the code that ties into/uses that file must also be GPL?

[Otto]

Then the code that ties into/uses that file must also be GPL?

No, because what files connect to what doesn't make transfer of licensing occur. Licensing has nothing to do with "files". Those are a technical concept, not a legal one.

People who come from a software background always get this wrong. A legal separation doesn't have to be a technical one as well. You can have two pieces of code in the very same file and they can have different copyrights and different licensing requirements. The fact that they share a file is meaningless, legally. The separation between them is not defined in terms of files, but in terms of history, relative dependence, and basically whether or not one piece of code is derivative of the other.

The "derivative" is the big separator there. Code that is hooking directly into WordPress functions (filters, action hooks, etc) is unarguably derivative code. It's using core functionality to do its work.

On the other hand, code that works without WordPress at all is pretty unarguably non-derivative, unless it contains actual copy/pasted code from WP itself. Non-derivative code like this is an entirely independent work, with whatever license the creator wants to put on it.

It is entirely possible to take non-derivative work and create a plugin that hooks it into the proper places in WordPress to make WordPress use it. The creation of this plugin does not magically make the non-derivative code into derivative code. Nothing can do that, ever. A piece of code is derivative or not based entirely on its own merits, not via packaging and such.

That said, software developers frequently do use files as a way to separate different pieces of code, and sometimes they do it to make things simpler legally. But that is not a requirement, that's just to make things easier all around.