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In the JoomlaWorks website, they have a link to terms & conditions (http://www.joomlaworks.gr/content/view/23/33/) where they say it:
"You may use each individual product on a maximum of five (5) websites only, belonging to either you or your client. You have to purchase the same extension again in order to use it for more than 5 websites.""

Is this legal??
Can they say in how many websites I will use the extension??

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The JoomlaWorks extensions listed in the JED are all non-commercial and licensed under the GPL. The commercial ones listed on the JoomlaWorks site are not on the JED and thus not subject to the JED Terms and Conditions.

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~Matt Lipscomb
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Hey Matt,

How's this different than Hikashop?
viewtopic.php?f=262&t=631594

Kind regards,
Nick

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Please see List C1 - General license verification Item 1:
http://docs.joomla.org/JED_Entries_License_Checklist

Futhermore, the last sentence of the following page reads:
http://extensions.joomla.org/index.php? ... tent&id=53

Kind regards,
Nick

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To God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever!
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Hello,

And what's the difference with AcyMailing?
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions ... 341#action

and what about Community Builder selling their ioncubed non-GPL "CB Subs" ?

i reported CB on the JED report page but got no answer after many weeks.

if it's GPL, no, it's not legal.

Hi Dubois,
Thanks for raising the question. As you can imagine, we have been looking at all times very closely in complying with JED's Terms of Service and with the GPL.
- Please note that all our Joomla extensions are GPL.
- Please also note that CBSubs itself is not a Joomla extension: It does not use Joomla installer nor the Joomla libraries. It also runs over other platforms without Joomla.
Thus we comply with JED Terms of Service and with the GPL.
You are welcome to contact me privately if you have any questions.

EDIT: Adding to the above that:
- CBSubs runs fine without mambot and module.
- They are optional and not required for CBSubs' function.

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Beat
www.joomlapolis.com <= Community Builder + CBSubs Joomla membership payment system - team
hosting.joomlapolis.com <= Joomla! Hosting, by the CB Team

Hi Beat,

I really hate to do this and actually considered not responding, but to be fair to everyone it's best that I do.

You wrote:
That's not entirely true. If you open up the CBSubs download that you get from Joomlapolis, there are two Joomla extensions in there.

The Joomla system plugin: bot_subs_122-E.zip
The Joomla module: mod_subs_122-E.zip

Neither are GPL. For example, here's what the system plugin's copyright/licence tags state:


Kind regards,
Nick

_________________
To God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever!
---------------
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Hi Nick Savov,

Thanks for bringing that mistake in the marking of the package to my attention.

It really is a mistake: The code of that mambot is (and was already) licensed under the GPL in its code, but the XML didn't reflect that correctly, and as you probably saw it, the third (admin) module was already marked correctly GPL in XML file and code.

We have now already fixed that marking for that mambot and for that module to GPL license, including updating the copyright as you noticed it, and you are welcome to re-download the same package with fixed marking.

My statement above stays true.

Please use our forums for mistakes or bugs, or contact me directly, as this is not really the best place to track mistakes and bugs and to fix them.

_________________
Beat
www.joomlapolis.com <= Community Builder + CBSubs Joomla membership payment system - team
hosting.joomlapolis.com <= Joomla! Hosting, by the CB Team

@Beat,
You're welcome! No worries, it's an honest mistake and shouldn't be counted against you. I'm thankful for your responsiveness and clarification!

@Matt,
The question still stands. How is Joomlawork's situation different than Hikashop's? Why has Hikashop been unpublished for 3 months (seemingly without a reply from the JED Team), yet Joomlawork's extensions haven't been unpublished? viewtopic.php?p=2540262#p2540262

Why do some developers get preferential treatment while others are ignored (and get removed for the same hidden "rule" that doesn't even appear in the TOS)? This should not be so.

Kind regards,
Nick

p.s. I'm not at all saying that JoomlaWork's extensions should be unpublished. I am, however, very upset at the current situation as this and other similar incidences have been going on for far too long and have affected far too many people now. More openness and responsiveness is needed, especially by those in positions of leadership.

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To God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever!
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@Beat:

very interesting, we should further discuss more and clarify this loophole as i'm interesting too in publishing non-GPL commercial addons on my site.

however, if it uses bots/plugins to run in my opinion it should be considered a joomla extension, unless it can work 100% as a separate stand alone service and called by external APIs.

why not just removing this silly rule ?

it's not joomla's business what we sell on our sites.

I've already suggested elsewhere that the "rule" be removed. First, it's not in the TOS. Second, it's hidden away somewhere in developers Joomla Docs in an FAQ section (not in a rules section). Third, the only other place it appears is on an errors page that you visit after the extension has been unpublished (how does that make sense?)

If the rule will not be removed, update the TOS:
viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644962

Most importantly, if the rule will not be removed, apply it fairly to everyone. Why are some developers being discriminated (for 3 months without an answer)? Why are other developers above the "rule"?

Kind regards,
Nick

_________________
To God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever!
---------------
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Here's a clear example for anyone wanting to get a summary:

The rule:

Hikashop:
Hikashop (GPL) is unpublished on the JED
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions ... cart/14275
The pro version (non-GPL) is on their site:
http://www.hikashop.com/en/hikashop/business.html

JoomlaWorks:
Simple Image Gallery (GPL) is published on the JED:
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions ... llery/1468
The pro version (non-GPL) is on their site:
http://www.joomlaworks.gr/content/view/25/42/

Same goes for ACYMailing:
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions ... tter/10341

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To God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever!
---------------
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[...]

as long as the JED is provided for free, developers selling commercial extensions are seen as a sort of a hassle because there's no solid return in joomla's pockets, volunteers have little time and little patience, etc etc

i always supported the idea of making the JED a real "app store" where first of all you have to pay a fee to get your apps listed.

this will bring the resources to pay full time employees running the JED in a timely and professional way and to bring joomla a new revenue stream for further projects.

either that, or joomla will become an unmanageable mess, it's simply too big and complex to be left at the mercy of volunteers and their spare time.

Hey Dubois,

I disagree. Joomla has gotten this far on the back of volunteers; it can go farther still on the back of volunteers! Joomla means "All together" or "As a whole" and we can certainly get through this dust together and as a whole.

Rather than put words in the JED team's mouths, let's wait to hear them out first

Kind regards,
Nick

p.s. Let's not rabbit trail I really don't want to get this topic locked and I want there to be an open discussion without any accusations that can't be proven.

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Agreed! It's one thing if the extension itself broke this rule, and another thing if the site provides non GPL licensed extensions. It's non of the JED's business in my opinion. Perhaps there is something that makes it a big deal that I do not understand?

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www.alpineascent.com | www.alpinejosh.com

This JED rule should be removed.

I am a user of Joomlaworks extensions, and I want to decide what to buy, and I agree that Joomlaworks should decide what to sell.

Limiting the JED limits my personal freedom of choice, and Joomlaworks's freedom of developing.

Joomla always talks about freedom, so be honest till the end and allow developers and users to decide what to buy and what to sell THEMSELVES, but not limit their freedom of choice - once Joomla is considered community-driven (or it is driven by a group of people who have a personal interest?!).

Please don't talk that JED is free and so on. Nobody limits you to accept money, nobody force volunteers to work, it is their choice. You are the bosses here (and we see that you rule like you wish). The community is not asked what do they want to see in JED. So at least please don't limit the developers freedom. Joomla didn't asked users if they want to remove none-GPL extensions from JED - is it fair to the users and to the developers? NO!

And who made the Joomla wide-spread? Not the Joomla itself, but the developers who created extensions, and users. So please think about them, at least sometimes.

Remember that any CMS is a piece of code without normal extensions. With such JED policy Joomla will only have tons of plugins for adding GA code.

Ever the pessimist, I see someone taking the ball & going home here...

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Seems fine in this case.

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www.alpineascent.com | www.alpinejosh.com

I'm just calling it like I see it. Would I like to see this "rule" go away? Yes, I would. Do I see it happening? Probably not.

And just in case we get some zealotry and/or misunderstanding here, let it be said this does not apply to commercial apps. I myself had this same issue with Kopyleft code. For those unfamiliar with Kopyleft, it's an "All Rites Reversed" free license that basically says "I don't care WHAT you do with this code" and I was still pinged by this rule, long ago...

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Unsolicited private messages/emails = hire me to fix your problem.

i've nothing else to add to this unfruitful discussion and i wonder why they setup a JED forum if they just don't allow criticism.

I think this thread, and others, are testament to the fact that criticism is allowed. Constructive feedback and concrete suggestions are always much better.. but, nonetheless, this forum is providing you and others an opportunity right now to share your thoughts.

If you have anything else to add, especially suggestions, go ahead. Do think about the words you use however, it can make a difference to a discussion.

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I agree whole heartedily with Brad!

Kind regards,
Nick

_________________
To God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever!
---------------
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Well said Brad, the forum moderators seem pretty laid back.
Cheers Josh Lewis

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www.alpineascent.com | www.alpinejosh.com

Beat,

There is just one point I didn't understand about CBsubs.
CBSubs is not using any function of Community Builder ? like your CB class for Database access ?
Because CB is under GPL, so if CBSubs is using the CB installer or CB functions, seems that CBsubs should be under GPL too.

This is just a question to understand how it's possible to have some code that is not GPL working with a Joomla Extension.

Well discovered!

I don't know the licensing of the appropriate classes and functions.
But there are ways to make this work.

Case 1:
CB is dual licensed and doesn't use any of Joomla's API.
=> But is not accepted by JED and leads to exclution of CB.

Case 2:
The appropriate classes and functions are LGPL.
=> Accepted by JED and propriatry extensions of CB can use them.

Just check which classes and functions CBSubs is using and you know if there is a violation.

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