[ckan-dev] About the impact of AGPL License of CKAN on CKAN extensions

Thu Oct 25 14:54:34 UTC 2018

Hi,

Just to provide some contrast, my interpretation is a bit different. My contention is that extensions are derived/derivative (I can never remember which is the right word) from CKAN, and therefore fall under the AGPL.  You should make your code available to all of your users.  If those users are internal, then no you probably don’t need to put it openly on github (or similar) just make it available to other internal users.

Obviously, Guido’s advice was best – definitely speak to a lawyer although I’ve no idea if anyone would actually try and enforce the AGPL in the case of CKAN extensions.

Of course, if there is anything that is of wider value to the community, that can possibly be separated out, I would definitely encourage you to contribute back to the community that provided that platform your company is building upon.

Ross

From: ckan-dev <ckan-dev-bounces at lists.okfn.org> On Behalf Of zonghuanwu
Sent: 25 October 2018 15:29
To: CKAN Development Discussions <ckan-dev at lists.okfn.org>
Subject: Re: [ckan-dev] About the impact of AGPL License of CKAN on CKAN extensions

Thank you Guido! 

Very helpful advice and information. 

Best,

Bradley 

From: ckan-dev [ <mailto:ckan-dev-bounces at lists.okfn.org> mailto:ckan-dev-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On Behalf Of Guido Stein
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2018 9:00 PM
To: CKAN Development Discussions < <mailto:ckan-dev at lists.okfn.org> ckan-dev at lists.okfn.org>
Subject: Re: [ckan-dev] About the impact of AGPL License of CKAN on CKAN extensions

Hey Bradley,

I am not a lawyer, you would need to speak to a lawyer for a definitive answer.

That said, I think that what you are asking is:

"If you write a piece of code that uses a library that is AGPL does this mean that you need to also use the same license for your code?"

Short answer is no, you do not need to adopt AGPL unless you are editing the original library source code.

Here is another way to think about this.

"If someone makes a web service that has an API for sharing data, does that mean any tool that access that api using REST endpoints now has to be licensed in the same manner as the code behind the web service?"

Again the answer is no.

Here is a place where this discussion has more examples and ideas:

 <https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/107883/agpl-what-you-can-do-and-what-you-cant> https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/107883/agpl-what-you-can-do-and-what-you-cant

It's a fair question to ask. And this is my take on it, but as I said when I started, this is a legal question best resolved by a lawyer.

-Guido

On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 4:49 AM Ricardo Pinho < <mailto:ricardodepinho at gmail.com> ricardodepinho at gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

If the authors of this amazing solution CKAN, choosed AGPL license, the strongest copyleft GNU license, was because are where committed on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications under the same license. 

I must advise you on reading this to understand and change your mind on using proprietary licenses!

 <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-affero-gpl.html> https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-affero-gpl.html

But suppose the program is mainly useful on servers. When D modifies the program, he might very likely run it on his own server and never release copies. Then you would never get a copy of the source code of his version, so you would never have the chance to include his changes in your version. You may not like that outcome.
Using the GNU Affero GPL avoids that outcome. If D runs his version on a server that everyone can use, you too can use it. Assuming he has followed the license requirement to let the server's users download the source code of his version, you can do so, and then you can incorporate his changes into your version. (If he hasn't followed it, you have your lawyer complain to him.) 

 <https://choosealicense.com/licenses/agpl-3.0/> https://choosealicense.com/licenses/agpl-3.0/

Permissions of this strongest copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. When a modified version is used to provide a service over a network, the complete source code of the modified version must be made available. 

 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affero_General_Public_License> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affero_General_Public_License
The GNU Affero General Public License is designed specifically to ensure that, in such cases, the modified source code becomes available to the community.
It requires the operator of a network server to provide the source code of the modified version running there to the users of that server.
Therefore, public use of a modified version, on a publicly accessible server, gives the public access to the source code of the modified version.

If we believe and want to live in and Open World, we must believe there is no place for proprietary licenses! 

 <https://openrevolution.net/> https://openrevolution.net/

 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gevj7sa6ZAg&t=45> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gevj7sa6ZAg&t=45 

Cheers.

zonghuanwu < <mailto:zonghuanwu at huawei.com> zonghuanwu at huawei.com> escreveu no dia quarta, 24/10/2018 à(s) 07:30:

Will the CKAN AGPL License restrict third party CKAN extensions to be open-source?

In other words, can a third-party CKAN extension be proprietary? 

Thank you in advance for the help,

Bradley

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