Modules under GPL?

[joehobson]

I've worked with some open source stuff in the past but never really took time to understand the licensing terms until the last few weeks. I started wondering about JBoss and Nukes and how those fit into open source licensing. The JBoss site explains that the JBossAS is licensed under LGPL (good news). Although i can't seem to find anything direct on the Nukes project pages I did notice the GPL at the beginning of the Nukes installer when i last re-installed it.

And then i found this discussion from back in February where someone else was wondering about the licensing of Nukes and modules...
http://www.jboss.org/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&t=42533

So getting to my question (eventually) - if i write a module that i run under Nukes, will i have to put it under GPL and offer the source to anyone that wants it? What about a portlet, in the next version of Nukes? It seems to me that module would have to be open but a portlet could be licensed under different terms since it wouldn't rely solely on Nukes to run (could be run in other portals).

If anyone understands the legalities, please enlighten us all... .joe

[julien1]

I am not an expert either but :

if you develop a Nukes module and don't distribute it, it's ok.
if you develop a Nukes module and distribute it, it must be GPL.

In nukes 2, you will be able to deploy portlet so it can be whatever.

Any corrections ?

[joehobson]

Ok I think i have a better handle on it. Read some of the FAQ on GNU http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublicand it was pretty clear, at least parts of it. You can develop it internally just fine, but if you distribute then it has to be under GPL.

And i do think that portlets will be a good move towards being able to create pieces that might have commercial value to businesses while keeping the base system open for all.

thanks for the clarification... .joe

[julien1]

yes, thanks for the double check, portlet implementation is still in progress on our side.