[development] GPL

[Brian Vuyk]

Uh oh...

This topic has been hashed over many times on this list, and in the 
Legal group at g.d.o. I've included links to several past discussions 
below. There is one in particular from last year that I wasn't able to 
locate that also would be relevant, having 200 or more posts in it.

http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/development/2009-November/034323.html
http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/development/2007-August/026130.html
http://groups.drupal.org/node/15269
http://groups.drupal.org/node/12648
http://groups.drupal.org/node/6318
http://groups.drupal.org/node/12624

I don't mean to cut your topic short, but the issue has been covered 
extensively in the past, and I don't think it would serve much to go 
over all the 'non-lawyer' opinions help by members of this list for the 
umpteenth time.

Brian

Cameron Eagans wrote:
> Hi Drupalistas!
>
> This question has come up a couple of times in our local Drupal user 
> group meetings, but the answer that was given didn't sound quite right 
> to me:
>
> If I code a module for Drupal, does it -have- to be GPL? That is, is a 
> module considered a 'derivative work' of Drupal? Or is a module 
> considered it's own entity from an intellectual property standpoint 
> (that is, can I use something like 
> http://www.raizlabs.com/software/phpobfuscator/ to obfuscate my source 
> code and sell my module without licensing it as GPL?)
>
> Because a module executes as a part of Drupal, must it be GPL?
>
> Taking that further, can we apply the same question to things like the 
> Linux kernel? Is a kernel module required to be GPL? Can I sell a 
> proprietary kernel extension?
>
> Thanks,
> Cameron Eagans