The GPL is a speed limit sign

July 16th, 2010

For those that haven’t already heard or read the transcript of Chris Pearson’s arguments against using the GPL I’ll sum it up for you. Chris has three main problems with the GPL. He didn’t itemize them very well on the podcast but this is what I was able to extract myself.

Chris feels…

  • as though the GPL is not conducive to good business practice,
  • that it is not an enforceable license,
  • and that Thesis, a WordPress theme and the main product of Chris’ company, somehow steps outside of the bounds of the GPL and so it shouldn’t apply.

Those three main arguments would be great to debate, to discuss and to figure out definitive answers to. However, the way Chris went about it – by simply not distributing his theme under the GPL – is definitely breaking the law.

It is sort of like speeding down a highway because you don’t agree with the speed limit in that area and your arguments are that speed limits aren’t good for highway safety, that there are no cops around to write out tickets and that you are somehow exempt from the speed limit laws because you’re a remarkable driver.

Bringing up problems with a license or even saying that a license doesn’t feel right and you’d like to discuss it at large is always a valuable thing to do. Deliberately distributing software without the GPL on top of software that is protected by it is not a valuable thing to do.

Is the GPL good for business? Is it enforceable? Is Thesis somehow exempt from the terms inside of the GPL due to its complexity? I don’t know the answers to those questions but it’d be fascinating to find out.

If this goes to court it would set a precedent but I hope it doesn’t for everyone involved.

4 thoughts on “The GPL is a speed limit sign”

  1. Adam Teece

    I don’t know much about how licensing works, but the best example I heard that made sense to me was how Linux is GPL, but not all software that runs on Linux is GPL. I think Matt and Chris are looking at WordPress differently. I think Matt looks as WordPress as software with Thesis being developed inside it and using it so the GPL would apply, while Chris is looking at WordPress as the platform and Thesis being the software that is running over the top of it so the GPL wouldn’t apply.

    All of this stuff is way to complicated for me and if Chris wants to keep Thesis from being GPL, maybe ask what he would need to do to make it not GPL. Are all themes for WordPress mandated to be GPL? That seems like it would limit a lot of things.

    1. Colin Devroe Post author

      “Are all themes for WordPress mandated to be GPL? That seems like it would limit a lot of things.”

      I think so but I’m not sure what it would limit. The GPL really is a great license for WordPress and its community and the companies and people that create themes and plugins.

      You can create a theme/plugin so long as people get the entire source of the theme/plugin even if you charge to ‘distribute’ and/or ‘support’ it. Not all that complex.

      1. Adam Teece

        That is very interesting, because I have seen quite a few expensive plugins that use some kind of PHP encryption, I think ionCube or something that has made it difficult to work with on my webhost, but are they all violating the GPL as well? Would love to get some more people in here discussing too.