If you use WordPress,GPL, it should be important to you, and you should know it as well. View the most comprehensive guide to WordPress and GPL.
you may have heard of GPL (a bill of rights often referred to as WordPress), but you probably don’t fully understand it. It makes sense-it’s a complex topic, and there’s no doubt that your time should be spent making a living rather than studying product licensing.
however, if you use WordPress,GPL should be important to you, you should know it. Why? Because GPL dictates how users and developers use WordPress.
with this in mind, this concise guide will reveal all knowledge of GPL licensing related to WordPress, which does not involve any legal terminology or unnecessarily complex language. After reading, you will understand what GPL is, why WordPress is licensed, how GPL benefits end users and WordPress developers, and ultimately why WordPress’s “derivative” works (that is, themes and plug-ins) should (or even must) be licensed by GPL.
GNU General Public license definition
starts with knowing your goals
GNU General Public license (with GPL is founded by computer programmer Richard Stolman (Richard Stallman). It is a rebellion against the rapid development of proprietary software. It is named “GNU” GPL because Stallman originally used it to license the GNU operating system.
GPL is a free software license. Contrary to popular understanding, the word “freedom” in “free software” does not refer to price, but (according to the definition of Stallman) the user’s freedom to use, modify and distribute the software (and any derivative works).
‘s four freedoms related to the “free software” movement are the best summary of GPL:
- ‘s freedom to run programs for any purpose.
- studies the freedom of how programs run and the freedom to modify programs to run as you wish.
- redistributes copies freely so that you can help your neighbors.
- will benefit the entire community by improving the freedom of the program and releasing your improved version (and general modified version) to the public.
in other words, GPL is the opposite of proprietary software such as Windows or iOS. It empowers end users, but it is not necessarily in the best interests of developers. However, as we will find out, it does apply to WordPress developers, if not intentionally.
Why WordPress uses GPL license
WordPress can become today’s WordPress is inseparable from GPL. From its inception to the present, the world’s most popular content management system has benefited from the input of thousands of people, which proprietary software cannot do.
in fact, without the concept of free software, WordPress could not exist at all-it was originally a bifurcation of b2/cafelog, and b2/cafelog itself is “free software”. Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of
bifurcated Development (GPL)
WordPress, can be said to be one of the world’s leaders in the field of “free software”. His mission to create WordPress.com is clear: “democratization of publishing”. GPL’s principles mean a lot to him (as you’ll find).
if WordPress is a country, our Bill of Rights is GPL because it protects our core freedoms. Matt Mulenvig, WordPress co-founder
Why you might like GPL
moral
as an end user, from a “moral” point of view, GPL has a lot to praise. Just read Stallman’s impassioned prose about software “ownership” and you’ll see how powerful GPL is for software users:
[proprietary software] means that the first step in using a computer is to promise not to help your neighbors. A cooperative community is forbidden. Proprietary software owners make a rule: “if you share it with your neighbors, you are pirated.” If you want to make any changes, ask us to do it. ” The view that the social system of
proprietary software-that you are not allowed to share or change the software-is antisocial, immoral, and wrong, which may surprise some readers. But what else can we say about a system based on dividing the public and leaving users helpless? In an increasingly accessible world (for better or worse),
represents true transparency in software development. It’s not just transparency that makes GPL so powerful that
, the power of the
community. Chris Lema put it most clearly in his articles on GPL WordPress topics and plug-ins:
… If the software is open, it can be repaired, improved and expanded faster and better. When more people can share it, check it, adjust it, and pass it on, you will get better and more powerful software. -Chris Lema, public figure, speaker and blogger
There is reason to believe that WordPress’s GPL license is the main catalyst for its exponential growth. The size and popularity of the WordPress community is unparalleled. This is due to its GPL status.
rest assured
from a more practical point of view, GPL gives WordPress end users peace of mind. Not only is WordPress free (in both senses), but all WordPress-related trademarks are owned by the WordPress Foundation, a charitable organization whose sole purpose is to “ensure that the software projects we support are permanently free”. In other words, WordPress has always been and will always be available to us for free in the way we are used to.
Why you may not like GPL
from an end-user perspective, there is no reason not to like GPL. It is an honorable authorization.
however, the typical WordPress entrepreneur may have a negative knee-jerk reaction to a more comprehensive understanding of GPL, mainly because of what GPL means from a business point of view. After all, if GPL allows “free use, modification, and distribution of software (and any ‘derivative’ work)”, what does this mean for advanced WordPress themes and plug-ins?
in theory, WordPress’s GPL license means two things for those trying to create “derivative” products:
- , anyone is free to use, modify and distribute your product without restrictions. The only value you can provide for
- is advanced support and automatic updates.
supports and updates
. However, things are not that simple. In fact, GPL is also “effective” for WordPress developers. The legal effect of
GPL
but before that, let’s look at the power of GPL from a legal point of view. At the time of this writing, the GPL license has not been confirmed by the court to a large extent. In fact, this means two things:
1. The meaning of “derivative works” is not clear whether
themes and plug-ins are legally considered “derivative” works (which will determine whether they comply with GPL standards).
, however, you will find that there are a lot of people who are willing and ready to oppose this statement. Mullenweg even sought legal advice from the Software Freedom Law Center.
Software Freedom Law Center
‘s conclusion (as summed up by Mullenweg) seems absolute: “the PHP in the WordPress theme must be GPL, and the artist and CSS can be, but not required.”
Toma creative Zaman takes the same strong view in his Codeable articles on WordPress and GPL: the PHP code for
WordPress plug-ins and themes is a derivative of WordPress, which means they must be licensed by GPL. All this seems quite convincing, but most importantly, none of this has been proved in court.-
, founder of Toma cities Zaman,Codeable. There is no legal precedent, so any claim of certainty is in fact uncertain. Legal certainty is achieved through legal precedents-and the GPL license lacks this on this particular subject.
2. Reduce the risk of legal action
one might say that the lack of legal precedent suggests that non-compliance is unlikely to lead to legal action. Brian Krosgaard (Brian Krogsgard) has a good explanation for this: few lawyers in
are willing to be the first to experiment in court. If there are many cases to guide you, it will be easier for you to file a case. GPL has so-called “limited guidance”, which means that it is untested, so the outcome of GPL cases in the United States may be difficult to predict. Brian Krosgaard, Post Status editor
, although it’s easy to argue about the above issues, putting yourself on the line of fire (so to speak) is quite another matter! We personally do not recommend that you despise GPL, thinking that there is no legal precedent is some kind of “protection”.
to sum up, we can draw a simple conclusion: legally speaking, the impact of GPL on WordPress themes and plug-ins is still inconclusive. That said by
, although it is important to mention the legal aspects of GPL, from a practical point of view, this is not really important. How
GPL benefits WordPress end users and developers
as a WordPress entrepreneur, it’s easy to worry about the impact GPL will have on your business, but it’s more valuable to observe the actual effect. History has shown that the WordPress community does not work as cynics expect for three main reasons:
pays
honestly and most people are essentially honest. For everyone who is happy to “steal” the product (although this is impossible under the GPL license), more people are willing to pay for what they sell-even if they can get it for free.
knows GPL
. Many people don’t know GPL. It takes a degree of shrewdness to (a) understand that something is available for free, and (b) know how to get it for free. If a plug-in is advertised as “advanced”, ordinary users will not download it from Github if it is available there-they will get it from the most obvious source.
updates support
to purchase advanced GPL products with added value. While GPL advanced plug-ins may be “free”, it is perfectly acceptable to “sell” related services that end users may find very useful, such as support and automatic updates. You will find that many modern advanced theme and plug-in developers-although they do not publicly advertise that their products are available for free under the GPL license-are sold in this model.
We strongly recommend that you read this article: why should you stop using invalid WordPress plug-ins and themes?
To sum up, as a developer, you can benefit from all the advantages of GPL (morality, community spirit, and power), but will not suffer any negative impact that may be worrying.
there is better news for customer-facing WordPress developers: GPL does not affect non-distributed work, which includes customization work you do for individual customers. If you do this kind of work, you don’t have to worry about GPL compliance.
other reasons why you should use the GPL license
you will be in line with key influencers
although most WordPress users have not even heard of GPL, it is extremely important to all key influencers in the WordPress community-the best example is Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic.
, the
influencer, is indeed passionate about GPL and is not afraid to protect it accordingly. Such examples abound, and the most recent (and most public) is the battle between Automattic and Thesis. The adoption of the GPL license for
means that you agree with some of the most important people in the WordPress community on moral and philosophical positions. Since WordPress is a community, it would be wise to do so.
you can get more exposure
WordPress.org theme and plug-in library is an extraordinary resource for end users and an extraordinary marketing tool for developers. Any developer has the opportunity to upload their themes and / or plug-ins for free and show them to the WordPress community. But there is one problem: “your plug-in (or theme) must be compatible with the GNU General Public license v2 or any subsequent version.” It’s easy for
to get exposure
, for free theme and plug-in developers: without GPL, there would be no exposure on WordPress.org.
this is the “right” approach
GPL licenses can be considered from a more practical point of view: without WordPress, your plug-ins or themes would not exist and could not be adapted and exposed using such a huge platform. Therefore, although it is not absolutely necessary to adopt GPL, other things being equal, it is the “right” approach.
Summary
now that you know everything about WordPress and GPL. You understand how important it is to you as an end user and what benefits it will ultimately bring to you as a developer. Some people in
may reasonably think that the only way GPL can harm you is if you refuse to adopt it; not because of the license itself, but because of its restrictions on you, the impact within the community, and the enemies you may attract.
aside, from a moral point of view, GPL still has a lot of merits. The license chosen by WordPress shows that it is possible for us to create and distribute software in a completely transparent manner while reaping the benefits of the community and making some money by the way. Isn’t everyone happy?
