Comment 455 for bug 269656

On Fri, 2008-09-19 at 06:31 +0000, Ante Karamatić wrote:
> And, as any other license, it's about software, not a service. You can
> have GPL software on your computer, but your service, based on it, can
> be non-free. Output of AGPL-ed software (aka service) can be non-free -
> it's simple, AGPL doesn't cover services.

AGPL3 does. There is a specific clause for software that interacts with
users over a network.

A good example of an AGPL3 program can be found at:

http://sharesource.org

Sharesource is like sourceforge, however Sharesource also releases all
of the code that makes Sharesource.

If you use this code to make your own "Sharesource" and change it, you
are obligated to make your changes available to anyone using your
service.

There are various levels of 'teeth' to this, depending on how the author
implements the license. For instance, a good implementation leverages
the AGPL3 only when considering core code, not themes and icons. With
interpreted languages, there is no linking beyond vm bytecode, and only
its output is actually distributed .. so there is no combined work.

This means you can make the core of your killer service AGPL3, while
templates and other stuff can be any license compatible with the
standard GPL (many OSI approved licenses are). However, if you make the
core code depend on something new, your obligated to share that
something.

The purpose of the license is to help ensure cooperative development in
the days of SAAS. AGPL3 specifically addresses this need.

It helps to guarantee development in the open, however it should be used
with thought and care. Writing a web server like Apache and releasing it
under the AGPL3 is most decidedly not a good idea. Notice I said open,
not user freedom, which is what I would normally say. Your freedom ends
on the client, not server side of this situation. What remains is your
privacy, or (if your the developer) assurance that you get code back.

If you clone Google Apps, it might be a good license to pick.

Another misconception about it is the license carrying over to data..
for instance stuff in a MySQL database. That is not the case. Structured
queries used in the code apply, but not the data itself.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
--Tim