[kwlug-disc] Wordpress themes must be GPL

[Andrew Kohlsmith (mailing lists account)]

On Monday, July 26, 2010 02:03:04 pm Johnny Ferguson wrote:
> I guess as an example:
> 1. Team X creates WebWidget5000, spending $4000
> 2. Team X creates WW5000 Support Premium
> 3. Team Y comes along and undercuts WW5000 Support Premium
> 4. Team X is very sad
> 5. Team Y laughs mischievously

That's called a fork, and is encouraged by OSS. If Team Y can push updates and 
create a better platform, the customers win. If Team Y tries and fails because 
they're total douchebags and stole code they couldn't write anyway, then the 
customers win.

Obviously Team X would feel that the first scenario isn't so good, and there's 
a valid argument for that, but really we see this in the physical world with 
cheap knockoffs coming out of countries with lax or nonexistent protection 
laws. It's much harder to sell knockoff physical items than software, and if 
it's support, the chances are very good that Team Y would have a pretty bad 
rep and would have difficulty selling support for a codebase they really aren't 
all that familiar with, not to mention not being in sync with the real WW5000.

> I suppose whether GPL or Proprietary, the same scenario could occur, but
> with proprietary, Team Y would have to have some kind of magical powers.

Or a stolen codebase. Or a rogue developer from Team X, or... ?

-A.