Synopsis

While the initial controversy about the Thesis-not-being-under-GPL issue was focused on themes and derivative works, an unclear area that probably needs to be resolved in court, it seems there is a far sounder reason why Thesis has to be released under the GPL: it blatantly copies WordPress code.

It all started with this tweet by Andy Peatling (@apeatling):

Not a clear GPL violation, because it’s extending WordPress classes, which, in effect, copies WordPress functionality into Thesis.

Code analyses

Andrew Nacin (@nacin) started going through the code of Thesis and started to make some encouraging/discouraging tweets:

I just found a line of code I wrote for #WordPress, but in #thesiswp. Funny, when I wrote it, it was under the GPL. #

And then, an initially uncorroborated claim:

This is really pissing me off. I’m up to a few hundred lines directly lifted from WP. A part of me is crushed. #thesiswp #

And then Drew Blas (@drewblas) did an automated analysis (like I suggested ) and found clear evidence of copied WordPress code:

Clear evidence of GPL code in Thesis

Impact

At this point, it seems clear: Thesis isn’t merely building on top of WordPress, it literally incorporates WordPress code through copy-paste.

That makes Chris Pearson liable to fulfill his obligations under the GPL and distribute GPL derivatives under the GPL.

Most damning

Andrew Nacin eventually found this in Thesis:

* This function is mostly copy pasta from WP (wp-includes/media.php),
* but with minor alteration to play more nicely with our styling.

GPL test case? YES.

Chris Pearson indicated during his interview that he is fundamentally opposed to the GPL and will absolutely refuse to license Thesis under the GPL. By the end of the dialogue, he was practically saying “sue me”.

Matt Mullenweg responded:

Matt: Are you saying you want to be a test case for the GPL? You want us to sue you? I mean, that would break my heart. I’d rather you be part of the family.

While the themes = derivatives basis might have been shaky for a legal trial, I think the fact that there’s copied code clearly indicates one outcome in the end, in favour of the GPL.

Temporarily back to the case for themes = derivatives

WordPress isn’t the first community to issue the directive that extensions (themes, plugins) are derivatives. Joomla! did so a few years ago (I recall because I used Joomla! before finding WordPress) and Drupal makes it extremely clear.

If this matter can’t be determined by the GPL’s applicability to themes/plugins, maybe WordPress should just re-license, starting with a future version, with GPLv3 and add a specific requirement that themes/plugins are licensed under GPL.

Background

To provide some background, WordPress is a blogging platform licensed under the GPLv2, which specifically forces all copies of a work licensed under GPL, as well as derivative works, to be licensed under the GPL:

2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:

b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.

The Free Software Foundation explicitly addresses plugins in its FAQ, making it clear that plugins that share data structures with the main program and make function calls to each other are derivative works to which the GPL also applies.

Themes were an uncertain matter prior to last year’s legal opinion from the Software Freedom Law Center, because these works from third parties certainly build on top of the WordPress platform, but often extend it with original artwork and programming. The analysis states clearly that:

… it is our opinion that the themes … contain elements that are derivative works of the WordPress software as well as elements that are potentially separate works. Specifically, the CSS files and material contained in the images directory of the “default” theme are works separate from the WordPress code. On the other hand, the PHP and HTML code that is intermingled with and operated on by PHP the code derives from the WordPress code.

Though almost all of the other theme foundries have adopted the GPL license for their PHP code, Chris Pearson stands nearly alone in asserting the GPL’s viral clause is inapplicable to him.

Initial controversy

On a live webcast with both Chris Pearson, the developer of Thesis, and Matt Mullenweg, the founder of Automattic and the WordPress project, Chris expressed his personal belief that the viral nature of the GPL goes against his personal freedoms and rights as a developer:

Chris: One, it would require me to make a concession about something that I don’t think that I need to concede to. Why should I change? I’m protected right now. My work is protected, which it should naturally be. I want to retain that right. If I go GPL then I am ceding that right. The number one issue for me is the personal concession that I would be making. Not of any real impact to my business. I don’t want to make that personal concession, because I don’t have to. Okay?

Note: it is possible, in terms of the GPL’s legality, that Chris never had the right to prevent users from redistributing his code; if the GPL applies, a developer cannot restrict redistribution.

Matt, on the other hand, debates to defend the applicability of the GPL to themes and plugins:

Matt: … If you build a module for Drupal or a module for WordPress or a theme for WordPress or anything like that, the license says that you do have to follow the GPL. I think that it’s just a matter of choosing the platform. If you disagree with the GPL, just use a platform that doesn’t have the GPL.

I listened to all of the long back-and-forth encounter, which was interesting until Chris began to assert his importance in the community:

Chris: I’ve done great things with WordPress since 2006. I have been arguably one of the top three most important figures in the history of WordPress. You, Mark Jaquith, and myself, are the three people that I am talking about.

Wait, what? A developer whose theme accounts for such a small fraction of WordPress’s usage puts himself in the top three figures in WordPress history? Jane Wells had a similar encounter with his ego.

» See the top 10 figures in WordPress history.

Analysis of this part of the controversy

The crux of the controversy is summarized by Chris’s sentences here:

Chris: I think the license, the GPL, is at odds with how I want to distribute my software and what I want it to be. I don’t think that it necessarily should inherit WordPress’ license when over 99% of the code within Thesis is Thesis code based on the actual process of building a website.

As someone who also contributes to open source software, I can certainly understand his sentiments on the ‘infectious’ nature of the GPL, which forces derivatives to inherit the GPL. It’s pretty hard to release projects under even more permissive licenses (for example, the Apache License), or in Chris’s case, extremely restrictive proprietary licenses, when so many open source projects enforce the GPL.

That really is, though, the purpose of the GPL: to keep open source open by prohibiting its inclusion in fully closed-source or proprietary (and restrictively-distributed) projects.

Are themes derivative works?

A lot of the open source advocates and lawyers seem to think so. After all, themes do things like:

<?php if ( get_comment_pages_count() > 1 && get_option( ‘page_comments’ ) ) : // Are there comments to navigate through? ?>

and

<?php if ( $wp_query->max_num_pages > 1 ) : ?>

which show clear integration with WordPress core functionality, much like a program in C would use the MySQL library with

mysql_real_connect()

Granted, the MySQL developers explicitly allow derivatives to use non-GPL licenses even though MySQL is GPL, through an additional license exception. The reason such an exception is necessary is that they understood that works which link to library code are derivatives.

The biggest problem is that the GPL was written with compiled code in mind, where derivatives would have to bundle the libraries (e.g. DLLs or SOs) in their releases. It’s sort of unclear for interpreted languages like PHP; is it an indication of derivation if one piece of code makes a function call to another?

It’s a bit unfortunate WordPress wasn’t licensed under GPLv3, because version 3 is much clearer about what it means to make a “modified version” or a work “based on” another work. It would also make for a better court case.

Caleb Jenkins (@CalebJenkins) iterates an interesting point: dependent != derivative. While I can see this being an interesting legal argument, it would have a lot of implications for open source in general, completely contrary to the way things have been operating.

If using a dependency is not being a derivative of that work, then it is conceivable that one can produce a C application which links to a GPL library (for example, the FOSS-licensed version of the MySQL client library) without bundling it and is released commercially under a closed-source, restrictive license. It is conceivable that a PHP program might require() WordPress to use its functionality, but simply not bundle WordPress, and would then avoid classification as a derivative.

I’m afraid I can’t entirely lend my support to that argument.

People have argued that making function calls to WordPress is akin to making system calls to the underlying operating system. Unfortunately, only GPLv3 is clear about distinguishing the system and compiler libraries from other general code; of course it doesn’t make sense that every application on the GPL Linux kernel must be open source. It’s a valid argument.

However, I agree more completely with Matt’s contention that a dependency = derivation when it gets to the point that a WordPress theme without WordPress will not work (just try loading any theme’s index.php in a browser) while WordPress without any themes will still function — it won’t show anything, but its backend is still fully functional.

Chris Pearson is wrong when he says “I think that what I’ve done stands alone outside of WordPress completely.” Interestingly, read the context of this quote:

Chris: How is that? I think that what I’ve done stands alone outside of WordPress completely. Why should I respect that? It’s not that I don’t respect WordPress. I do. I only build on WordPress and push people in its direction…

» Now here: Part 2 of Tracking the #thesiswp matter.

» Also read: Why WordPress Themes are Derivative of WordPress by Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith), a lead developer.

I’ve gotten to use it a lot more in the course of daily business, which has opened my eyes to some astounding features.

In any case, I’ve been very busy and will continue to be busy until next week, which is when I plan on publishing Part 3.

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If you want to stay up-to-date with WordPress, you can try running it from SVN. I’ll post a little guide on how I do it soon.

Technological Expectations for 2009

Things we hope to be released in 2009:

Kindle 2.0 (from Amazon)

The Amazon Kindle is a wireless reading device from Amazon that many people in the United States are already enjoying as an alternative to physical newspapers, novels, and documents. Amazon is expected to deliver a new version of the device, possibly in a smaller/more compact form factor. Additionally, there have been many complaints about the keyboard and the page navigation keys, all of which may be addressed if a Kindle 2.0 is designed. There’s also been discussion about a textbook edition that could be exactly what students need to avoid lugging around huge, cumbersome, heavy textbooks. I would certainly appreciate e-textbooks; wouldn’t you?

An improved consumer Mac desktop (Apple)

Though the iPod (and iPod Nano), iPhone, and Macbook series have all seen massive improvements, Apple has not changed the iMac significantly except for faster processor speeds and more memory. What about changes that the consumer can see, feel, or save? As of now, their top-of-the-line 24-inch iMac at 3.06 GHz costs a whopping $2,299 CAD. Cheaper prices would help as much as product improvements.

Windows 7 (Microsoft)

Admittedly, its release date could be any time between mid-2009 to 2010, but we’re hoping for it as early as possible, because the earlier it gets out, the better the PC experience will be, and the more competition there is for the consumer desktop. New features like touch, improved user-friendly interface for all the applications (even WordPad and Calculator), and sensors are sure to distinguish this Windows version from any previous one. Perhaps it will even match Mac OS X in terms of aesthetics and usability in day-to-day tasks (the fun ones, like making movies and managing photos, not the productivity/business things). The SuperSite for Windows has more to read about Windows 7.

Windows Live Wave 3 (Microsoft)

This entails a new version of the Windows Live apps — Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Writer, and newer additions such as Movie Maker. Windows Live Wave 3 also involves improvements to Microsoft’s online services (such as Spaces, Windows Live Mail, and FolderShare) that are already beginning to take place. Also, don’t forget that Microsoft announced plans to have Office in the cloud — Word-like, Excel-like, and PowerPoint-like applications that run inside a browser. Add that to their existing Office Live Workspace and certain business solutions, and we see Microsoft adopting the Cloud. Add Azure as a platform initiative, and we see Microsoft trying to lead the way again in terms of platforms. Once again, Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows has more to read.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Apple)

Snow Leopard is just a bit of an improvement on Leopard, and will add enhanced 64-bit support and other backend changes. Though it’s not particularly exciting, I’m sure it has many Apple fans hyped up.

Taking a little bit of a break from the content, you can subscribe to this blog by e-mail for free to get updates whenever a new post of interest is published:

Technological Hopes for 2009

How about the things we imagine, or hope to have (but probably won’t have)?

A consumer-affordable OLED television (Sony)

Just because OLED technology is in active development doesn’t mean that this will necessarily happen in 2009. As of the current year, an OLED TV from Sony costs over $2000, which makes it an unlikely choice for the average consumer, particularly given the recent economic crises.

A netbook from Apple

The Asus Eee PC that I have is ‘nice’, but I’m sure Apple could do a better job. As it stands, netbooks lack usability, given their tiny keyboards, tiny trackpads, small screens (and relatively miniature screen resolutions), limited processing power, and limited memory. If Apple decides to enter this field, they would face the same challenges, but could certainly design a better keyboard, a more usable trackpad (based on the one used on the new Macbooks), and invariably a better operating system than the customized Linux distribution or Windows XP.

For all we know, this concept is in the works.

Virtual Reality: Gaming and more

This was actually brought up by an acquaintance recently, who noted that video games are already becoming increasingly realistic, and that a large proportion of teens don’t distinguish between the unreal and the real anyhow. Virtual reality would make things seem even more realistic, but then we face the combined dilemma of: (a) limited computing power — only the newest computers have even a chance at a virtual simulation with a good resolution and frame rate, and virtual reality would be extremely difficult to implement in an affordable gaming console; (b) more time spent gaming; (c) some gamers would not distinguish between life and virtual reality — what if they practice killing in virtual reality and take that to real life?; (d) how would injury be simulated? — in a sniper game, for instance, how would a game provide physical feedback that you’ve just been shot?

Faster Internet connections in Canada!

This is just wishful thinking. While Japan and Northern Europe enjoy some of the fastest connections in the world (measured in gigabits per second), we in North America (more so in Canada than the United States) have to live with 5–20 Mbps connections over cable or DSL. At least large population centres in the U.S. can get FiOS; we don’t even have that.

What we need is competition. If Rogers Communications loses its (almost) monopoly over cable Internet, and if Bell Canada didn’t dominate telephone and DSL so much, maybe we’d see impressive improvements each year. What I want is affordable, 50+ Mbps connections — and I hope to avoid DSL.

3D holography

We’re still a long way from the interactive, life-like holodecks of Star Trek… but that doesn’t mean we can’t try. Projection-style holography is still very much possible today, and if technology moves forward the way we’d like it to, we’ll hopefully have three-dimensional images soon.

Practical applications of consumer-oriented holography, and that means outside the business or Pentagon or military, include the luxury of changing decorations in a split second, to have a ridiculously advanced visualizer for iTunes (or whatever media player you happen to be using), or maybe some futuristic gaming machine.

Is it too early to ask for a transporter or a replicator? (As far as I know, neither of those are likely within the next 50 years.)

Widespread hybrid/hydrogen automobiles

While hybrids are already becoming popular, the truly efficient and pollution-less automobiles, the hydrogen car, is still out of reach in most of the world. The hydrogen infrastructure just isn’t there; there are nearly no hydrogen fueling stations in most of the United States and probably none in Canada. I would like to see this technology mature.

Societal Changes in 2009

What’s going to shift in our society?

Increasingly-radical Christianity

In the past few years, we’ve always been talking about “radical Islam”, but a developing trend is “radical Christianity”. I’m making the most of my freedom of expression to note the increasing extremism of many denominations on social issues such as gay rights, abortion, immigration, war, trade, marijuana, and — believe it or not — health care. During the recent American presidential elections, we have seen church groups involving themselves in campaigning for or against certain candidates; we’ve seen endorsements from some, such as Reverend Wright, and condemnations from others. We’ve seen Catholic churches adamantly oppose birth control of any sort, evangelical Christians fighting for “the sanctity of life” and “the traditional family”, and all-in-all, an increasingly alarming involvement of the church in daily life and politics.

Let’s talk about one issue, perhaps one of the biggest issues, of recent months.

California’s Proposition 8 sought to ban all gay marriages in the state, and was affirmed by 52% of the voters. Religious organizations on both sides added to the conflict. My problem with Proposition 8 and the faulty logic used by religious proponents (“we’re protecting our religious rights and values”) is that a ban, by definition, restricts rights, as Lawrence Lessig will tell you. If a church doesn’t want to marry gay couples, they don’t have to; it’s not like the lack of a ban forces them to carry out such an action, whereas the ban would force other religious organizations to turn away gay couples.

Religious groups are abusing the role of religion in people’s lives. I will openly admit to being atheist, but to attack my reasoning based on atheism would be an illogical, ad hominem attack. This argument comes not from my atheism, but rather my atheism comes from it.

Inevitable gay rights movement

We cannot deny that this is a huge issue that will be campaigned for and against. Given the attention dedicated to such matters in 2008, I believe it will continue to be a large problem in 2009, and may perhaps be addressed (either favourably and unfavourably) by certain judicial bodies.

Liberalization of the U.S. Supreme Court

Barack Obama’s successful bid for president places him in the powerful position of appointing Supreme Court justices. If he can appoint a sufficient number to swing the court to the left, we may see the court overturning previous rulings on abortion, and perhaps further precedents.

Continuing rise of Asia

Asian nations, specifically China and India, are poised in positions of massive economic influence. Whether they can continue that influence and dominate trade is a matter for their governments and businesses to decide. China, on one hand, may begin to loosen rules on privatization and employment, while India’s government may take action to improve conditions and the quality of life throughout their territories. The United States’ weak economy makes it doubly vulnerable to the lure of cheaper business with China and India.

An eye on space

Already India has sent an object to the moon. The development of the International Space Station is progressing nicely. Space shuttles are to be sold off. Satellites are being launched and destroyed.

Would it be too far-fetched to say that space is at least a concern for every developed nation’s government and people?

Personal Expectations for 2009

Now we move from the general into the specific; from the societal to the individual. In 2009, I hope to improve my relationships with others, to exemplify the best characteristics of humanity, and in doing so, to live by the dictates of philosophy. I make it my New Year’s Resolution(s) to be a better person: to care more about the lives and feelings of friends and acquaintances… to treat strangers as friends… to open myself to influences… to help others lead more meaningful lives… and to combat societal issues that threaten to destroy the peaceful ways of life we enjoy.

In 2009, I also hope to gain a wider and more active readership on this blog. You can help, by commenting on this post, by subscribing to the blog via e-mail or RSS, and by sharing my posts with your friends.

Contribute to Frederick or Frederick’s Timelog

It’s nearly the end of 2008, which means 10 months of content that has evolved to support a community of readers. You can contribute to me or the operation of this blog in many ways:

• giving me feedback and discussion by commenting
• sponsoring a post on this blog (see below)

You could purchase a sponsored post on the blog, either directly (by contacting me) or through PayPerPost. These sponsored posts could be made about your business, product or service, and would deliver you link juice, publicity, as well as traffic. Sponsored posts recover more than half of this site’s operating costs.

Thank you for your continued readership!

I also realize that, perhaps you aren’t particularly interested in my personal life (although I’d point out that that is what many blogs focus on). I will return to posting other interesting things since I have nearly exhausted this topic.

It wouldn’t be too convenient to make a new blog post every day or even every week for this topic, so I’m going to place some of them on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/frederickding) or check this blog (since my Twitter updates are automatically re-posted here daily).

My three-item list for today (November 14, 2008):

• a warm, safe, and hospitable home
• an intelligent and thoughtful mind
• friends who care

I really wouldn’t mind if you decided to share a few of the things for which you are grateful, either by commenting here or by signing up for Twitter and letting me know about you.

ADDENDUM: of course some things will need to be kept private. But even the private things will be posted, except under lock and key.

ADDENDUM 2: here are my lists for November 15 and 16:

• life
• liberty
• health

• friends who are smart
• a Macbook Pro
• friends who care too much

One of the amazing things that the Internet has led to is the ease of publishing to the World Wide Web. No longer do you have to be a large media outlet to get the word out and to publish content.

Blogging has capitalized on this freedom on the Internet, allowing (literally) hundreds of millions of people to create their individual online presences. That’s why there’s so much content that can be accessed, and one of the reasons why Google has billions of pages in its index.

Does it cost you a cent to read a blog?

I think it’s an interesting question. Sure, you (probably) have to pay a monthly fee to get your Internet access, but you’re usually not charged by the blogger to read his or her content. In other words, posts on blogs are valuable content given away for free.

There are many free services like WordPress.com, Blogger, and even my own PersonalLog which let you easily get your site on the Web. That means that a good portion of those “hundreds of millions of people” don’t have to pay anything to get their site on the Web.

Of course, those free services aren’t without costs to operate; they need some sort of return on their investment on the infrastructure to keep the service going. That’s exactly why WordPress.com offers upgrades (eg. CSS customization, domain names, storage upgrades, etc).

In other words, it doesn’t cost you or the blogger to read a blog that is hosted for free by these services.

Then let’s take a look at people who need to pay for shared hosting or those who have dedicated servers to run their blogs. This blog, for instance, depends on paid hosting.

Most of the blogs like Frederick’s Timelog don’t charge the end-users to read or access their content.

Most of us need to support our hosting, too; that’s why we often need advertisers and sponsors to keep the blogs on the Web.

In other words, it doesn’t cost you to read a blog that needs paid hosting, and the cost incurred by offering this FREE content to you is recovered through a third party – the advertiser.

Blogging is an amazing way of getting content on the Web and also a great way for ordinary non-bloggers to read free content. The non-bloggers are getting the content without having to pay the bloggers, even though they’re driving up costs. The bloggers act as an intermediary between the cost-incurring readers (you) and the cost-paying advertisers.

The advertisers aren’t just losing their money for no reason, though; they either promote their image or entice you to take action (ie. sign up or purchase something).

Thus, in this case, free stuff (or what appears to be “free”) is good for all parties.

Does it cost you to listen to a podcast?

Most of the time, podcasts are offered for free. This also means that you, the person on one end of the complex relationship, are getting FREE content.

Surely it costs something to run a podcast. Let’s take a look at two scenarios.

First scenario — the podcaster hosts their content on free services like Blip.tv that provide the bandwidth. Sometimes, such services may inject advertising; at other times, such as with Blip.tv, that’s not the case.

In this case, neither the podcast, nor the listeners, are paying for the content or bandwidth. The free service is, and they usually recover their cost through advertising or through other revenue.

Once again, you are getting free content that doesn’t necessarily cost the podcaster to produce.

Second scenario — the podcast pays for a service like LibSyn to host their media. The podcaster is spending money, and you are still getting free content.

Why? Because the podcaster has often accepted advertising deals to recover the cost of bandwidth (or even to make profits). Still, the advertisers are getting something — new users, subscribers, or customers. Still, the podcasters are gaining something — listeners/subscribers, possibly money. And you are getting something — valuable content.

Do you see why I like free stuff now?

Free content benefits the end-user most

You, as the “end-user” (as we geeks sometimes say), are gaining the most out of this deal. A single cent never leaves your pocket/wallet/bank account/PayPal account/credit card. Free content is exactly what it sounds and seems like to you — free, which means no conditions, no trial periods, simply free content.

Often, the intermediary, which is the blogger or podcaster, will need to have funds exchange hands. From them to the hosting services. To them from the advertisers.

But it’s all hassle free for you.

Now do you understand?

I believe I’ve made my point clear. I like free stuff… and you should, too!