[documentation] [feature] CVS: Update FAQ.txt to clarify the impact of GPL on HTML output

[Eaton]

Issue status update for 
http://drupal.org/node/53242
Post a follow up: 
http://drupal.org/project/comments/add/53242

 Project:      Documentation
 Version:      <none>
 Component:    Misc
 Category:     feature requests
 Priority:     normal
 Assigned to:  Anonymous
 Reported by:  Eaton
 Updated by:   Eaton
 Status:       patch (code needs review)

As per chx's recommendation:


+Q: Does the GNU/GPL license apply to the HTML generated by a Drupal
site?
+A: No. It is the intent of the Drupal developers that the license
apply to Drupal,
+ as well as any modules, theme engines, or PHP theme code written to
interact
+ with it. The output generated by a live Drupal site -- including CSS,
HTML,
+ images and other media files, as well as Javascript code used by a
theme --
+ are NOT automatically released under the same license simply because
they
+ are sent from the server to a user's browser.
+
+ Any file checked into the Drupal CVS repository, of course, is
automatically
+ released under the GPL for public use.


Clarifying the 'php' aspect, and the fact that images, css, and
generated HTML output are not automatically GPL'd.  lekei, this
modification is meant to clarify the GPL status of generated output for
a web site, not the issue of third-party libraries. That question is
probably best settled in another issue.




Eaton



Previous comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 19:44:55 +0000 : Eaton

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/FAQ.txt.patch (901 bytes)

There's been a lot of confusion over the implications of Drupal's GPL
license. In particular, the question of whether HTML output from a
Drupal site is automatically GPL'd. Ideally, this would be included
somewhere in the drupal core distro, but for now a quick addition to
the FAQ.txt file found in the CVS /contributions directory can help.


+Q: Does the GNU/GPL license apply to the HTML generated by a Drupal
site?
+A: No. It is the intent of the Drupal developers that the license
apply to Drupal,
+   as well as any modules, theme engines, or theme code written to
interact with it.
+   The output generated by that code on a live site, however, is not
automatically
+   released under the same license.


Wording can probably be improved, but based on all the discussions that
have floated around and all the folks that have participated in them, I
think it would be very helpful.




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:01:51 +0000 : RayZ

+10  ... er +1 on adding this to FAQ.txt.




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:34:21 +0000 : lekei

-1 This wording explicitly states that no licensed code may be used in a
theme or module.