License Clarification

[Bassdread]

Hi, This plugin doesn't seem to have a license associated with it, just a copyright notice. The lack of a defined license is currently stopping me from using this great plugin.

Would it possible for this plugin to be released under a open source license such as GPL etc?

Regards, Chris

[larsivi]

According to setup.py, the license is BSD. AccountManagerPlugin, which this plugin is partly based on, has the Beer Ware license.

[Steffen Hoffmann]

I'd like to clarify at least to the point, that this is most probably not BSD but modified or '3-clause BSD' license, right?

This is trivial to fix, so your feedback, Catalin, would be very much appreciated.

[Ryan J Ollos]

Replying to bassdread:

This plugin doesn't seem to have a license associated with it, just a copyright notice. The lack of a defined license is currently stopping me from using this great plugin.

cbalan's SectionEditPlugin and MenusPlugin also say BSD in setup.py, but fail to include the license.

I brought up this point on the mailing list sometime back. I think that trac-hacks should have an acceptance clause in the NewHack workflow that either:

• Forces the acceptance of one of a handful of licenses, or
• Subjects the plugin to a default license, such as BSD, if the author does not specify a different license.

I'm poorly educated in license issues though. Is not the statement of a BSD license in setup.py enough to assume some specific license terms? It is necessary to actually include a COPYING or similar file in the source tree to indicate precise licensing terms?

[Ryan J Ollos]

hasienda: just wanted to update the main wiki page. Are you maintaining this now, is cbalan still maintaining it, or is it a needsadoption?

[Steffen Hoffmann]

Thanks for asking, because I didn't flag as required.

Current state is, that I've got cbalan's blessing for doing all kind of required actions, so this is like a maintainer status. Nevertheless I wouldn't mind someone else to maintain it, so I'll leave the needsadoption for now.

Still I think, all the goodies of UserManagerPlugin should be pulled into AccountManagerPlugin, like cbalan would have liked it, but couldn’t work out due to unmaintained state of AcctMgr at that time. So I'd especially welcome someone to help with integration, i.e. focused on next release cycle, acct_mgr-0.5.

Effectively this will result in shifting from (3-clause) BSD to BEER-WARE. No attempt will be made towards GPL, because this would be too restrictive, read: less liberal, for both source stacks. But both licenses in question are recognized as FOSS licenses, so the OP should be fine regardless of the decision/later development way.

Meanwhile, should I place a more explicit license by means of a COPYING file?

[Ryan J Ollos]

Replying to hasienda:

So I'd especially welcome someone to help with integration, i.e. focused on next release cycle, acct_mgr-0.5.

I'm hoping to find the time to do that :)

Meanwhile, should I place a more explicit license by means of a COPYING file?

I favor this approach. A commit to add the license in COPYING, with the standard header in each source file (e.g. as done recently for the ​MasterTicketsPlugin), which would remove any ambiguity and effectively close out this ticket.

[Ryan J Ollos]

Replying to rjollos:

I favor this approach. A commit to add the license in COPYING, with the standard header in each source file (e.g. as done recently for the ​MasterTicketsPlugin), which would remove any ambiguity and effectively close out this ticket.

Or I'm happy to push this change myself if you'd like.

[Steffen Hoffmann]

I've seen Catalin around at IRC lately, but was always off before I could ask about licensing issues.

Sure, it seem like an easily resolvable ticket, but then the work seems to have been sponsored by Catalin's employer back in 2008. So better let's make double-sure, we guess right about the license. I promise to not forget about it too soon, because I'm looking through code and open issues more often now in preparation for integration work lying ahead.

[Ryan J Ollos]

Replying to hasienda:

Current state is, that I've got cbalan's blessing for doing all kind of required actions, so this is like a maintainer status. Nevertheless I wouldn't mind someone else to maintain it, so I'll leave the needsadoption for now.

I'm ready to take over maintenance of the plugin and move it forward for eventual integration into AccountManagerPlugin. Just let me know if you still feel the same about wanting someone else to carry this forward.

[Steffen Hoffmann]

Replying to rjollos:

I'm ready to take over maintenance of the plugin and move it forward for eventual integration into AccountManagerPlugin. Just let me know if you still feel the same about wanting someone else to carry this forward.

Yes, please, as discussed in IRC before. We'll still keep in mind to move AcctMgr and UserMgr close together, and maybe re-join them when the time is right.

[Ryan J Ollos]

I've added gmartin as a committer, in case he has some time to push fixes.