Topic on Talk:BlueSpice

Answered

how is that Comply with GPL？

Thanks for asking.

From https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublic

Does the GPL require that source code of modified versions be posted to the public?

The GPL does not require you to release your modified version, or any part of it. You are free to make modifications and use them privately, without ever releasing them. This applies to organizations (including companies), too; an organization can make a modified version and use it internally without ever releasing it outside the organization.

But if you release the modified version to the public in some way, the GPL requires you to make the modified source code available to the program's users, under the GPL.

Thus, the GPL gives permission to release the modified program in certain ways, and not in other ways; but the decision of whether to release it is up to you.

In general, almost all "parts" (extensions, skins, libraries) of BlueSpice Pro are available on public locations anyways. Therefore one could build a custom version of BlueSpice Pro.

The finally released "package" (which contains all parts) is not released to the public, but it is still open source. Users of the software can inspect the code, e.g. for educational purpose and even modify it. There are no mechanisms in place to prevent that (e.g. obfuscation or ioncube enrcyption)

Just to add: We are one of the largest contributor for extensions in the MediaWiki ecosystem. And we develop almost everything in public Wikimedia repositories.

All extensions can be used and further developed, including scripts such as the Confluence MediaWiki migration script. These are all things that we don't have to publish, but we publish them because we believe that open source is a give and take and that public money also means public code.

The bundling, testing and the technically and legally flawless provision of certain distributions is the part for which we charge money and which enables us to throw a BlueSpice free over the fence, for example. This is entirely compliant with the GPL. All open source providers have been working in this or a similar way for decades.