Posts: 6,486
Threads: 176
Joined: Jan 2012
Thanks: 40
Given 161 thank(s) in 840 post(s)
I make all of my plugins public domain. I just hate the licensing stuff, all the legalese and all the loopholes, so I say, I want to be the good guy.
Note that by definition all Cuberite plugins are open-sourcish in the sense that anyone can view their source - there's no way to "compile" a plugin to hide its source, it's always plain Lua source files.
Posts: 721
Threads: 77
Joined: Apr 2014
Thanks: 0
Given 9 thank(s) in 90 post(s)
01-13-2016, 03:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-13-2016, 03:21 AM by LogicParrot.)
I like GPL. "You can freely use my code for your project, as long as you let people freely use your code for their project". The less restrictive free licenses encourage people/companies to take without giving back.
I wonder: Since Cuberite is Apache licensed, is GPL'ing plugins allowed?
Posts: 4,622
Threads: 114
Joined: Dec 2011
Thanks: 51
Given 60 thank(s) in 412 post(s)
You can give your plugin any license you want, but if you want the plugin in the cuberite repo it needs to have the Apache license.
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 57
Joined: Jul 2012
Thanks: 12
Given 17 thank(s) in 106 post(s)
You can have GPL plugins if the API is Apache licensed, but not the other way around, because you could argue that the plugin is a derivative work. (But it would be hard to enforce, and it doesn't matter in this case, because the main project isn't copyleft.)
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 57
Joined: Jul 2012
Thanks: 12
Given 17 thank(s) in 106 post(s)
The AGPL is only useful if you want to earn money licensing your plugin - I would not recommend it if you do not wish to do that.
Posts: 166
Threads: 14
Joined: Nov 2015
Thanks: 1
Given 1 thank(s) in 12 post(s)
How so? I believe it only adds the requirement to share servers-side code with the users even if they are technically not running it. I might be wrong though.
Posts: 1,468
Threads: 57
Joined: Jul 2012
Thanks: 12
Given 17 thank(s) in 106 post(s)
The idea is good, but the license doesn't achieve it's aim. If a server owner is running a server for fun and makes a modification to a plugin, they would normally contribute it back anyway, no need for the AGPL. (as there is no benefit for themselves to keep the change secret) If a commercial server owner sees an AGPL plugin, they will not use it at all and either license the code or commission a new plugin from a developer, as they would lose a significant amount of profit sharing their code with others.