License

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ChALkeR
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License

Post by ChALkeR »

What are the exact licenses, that phpBB3 has?

PhpBB2 has "GPLv2 or later", and is compatible with both GPLv2 and GPLv3+.
PhpBB3 has just a link to GPLv2, and if the license is GPLv2 only, is incompatible with GPLv3+.

In phpBB2:

Code: Select all

/***************************************************************************
 *
 *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
 *   (at your option) any later version.
 *
 ***************************************************************************/
In phpBB3 it is just:

Code: Select all

* @license http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php GNU Public License 
Sorry for my bad English
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Phil
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Re: License

Post by Phil »

phpBB3 is released under the GPLv2 license, but the GPL 3 can be applied to it if you wish.. GPLv2 software is compatible with GPLv3, but not the other way around.
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ChALkeR
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Re: License

Post by ChALkeR »

iWisdom wrote:phpBB3 is released under the GPLv2 license, but the GPL 3 can be applied to it if you wish.. GPLv2 software is compatible with GPLv3, but not the other way around.
That is wrong. GPLv2 is not compatible with GPLv3 either way.

See http://gplv3.fsf.org/dd3-faq

To be compatible one way it has to be "GPLv2 or later".
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Phil
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Re: License

Post by Phil »

That's incorrect. The clause "GPLv2 or later" (in the license in docs/LICENSE) makes it compatible with GPLv3, as per the (albeit outdated) page you linked to.
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ChALkeR
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Re: License

Post by ChALkeR »

iWisdom wrote:That's incorrect. The clause "GPLv2 or later" (in the license in docs/LICENSE) makes it compatible with GPLv3, as per the (albeit outdated) page you linked to.
There is no "GPLv2 or later" in any file of phpBB3, and there is no docs/LICENSE. There is docs/COPYING, but it begins with
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2, June 1991

Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Preamble

The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This
and so on.

The page is not likely to be outdated, last change there was 3 days before the release of GPLv3. And they did not give a new compatibility table. And it says
How is GPLv3 compatible with other GNU licenses?
, not the draft. And I don't think they changed something as major as compatibility in the last minutes.
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Phil
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Re: License

Post by Phil »

I've had this discussion on IRC before, and it's been stated numerous times (there and other locations) that the GPLv3 license can be applied to phpBB3.
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ChALkeR
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Re: License

Post by ChALkeR »

Then it should be specified thus in headers or on this site. Better - in headers.

Because as it is now, it is nowhere said that it can be used under GPLv3.

If it can, then the users are just not informed of it.

Now there is just one license specified, and it does not allow using the code under GPLv3.
Last edited by ChALkeR on Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: License

Post by A_Jelly_Doughnut »

Just days after the GPL3 final draft was released, Acyd Burn added this to CVS:

http://phpbb.cvs.sourceforge.net/phpbb/ ... 23&r2=1.24

It clarifies phpBB's position as licensed under the GPL2.
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ChALkeR
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Re: License

Post by ChALkeR »

A_Jelly_Doughnut wrote:Just days after the GPL3 final draft was released, Acyd Burn added this to CVS:

http://phpbb.cvs.sourceforge.net/phpbb/ ... 23&r2=1.24

It clarifies phpBB's position as licensed under the GPL2.
Thank you, that answers the question.

And now I'm just intersted: why did the developers decide to use GPLv2 only?
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Re: License

Post by A_Jelly_Doughnut »

Take a look at the topic "GPL v3 Released" in the general discussion forum. None of the developers partook of the discussion, but I think it would partly explain it :)
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