Hey many thanks Max,
This is all really helpful - as you can imagine I'm trying to understand
this as fully as I can...
Over on my Reddit post (http://redd.it/39gpcy) there's a reply that as
Rapid is a server platform it doesn't get distributed like a typical
desktop application so GPLv3 doesn't apply, and AGPLv3 should be used
instead. Giving AGPL a quick read this makes sense to me, but not having
heard of it before I wondered whether AGPL was sound and/or a better choice?
The Open Office document is a good example: I write an essay in Open
Office and is the essay Open Source? Of course not, the words in the
text are all my own. However the font is not, and, erm, neither are the
other "building blocks" which Open Office is using to show me my essay.
The essay can exist entirely independently of Open Office, and I can do
things like print it, and still have what makes my essay, my essay, and
retain it after it's creation without any further requirement for Open
Office.
And this is where Rapid apps get tricky. The debate (I think) is can a
Rapid app exist, like my essay, independently of the Rapid platform used
to make it? (like FileZilla can exist outside of the mysys compiler) And
the answer is, no it can't. What users generate with Rapid are just
definition files of properties and what Rapid controls (html snippets)
are on pages and what Rapid actions (JavaScript and pre-compiled
server-side code) get called when. The app has to constantly refer back
to the platform resources to generate the pages and execute the actions.
I assume this is linking, or even derivation? Is it enough to ensure
Rapid apps are Open Source?
Not that ensuring Rapid apps are Open Source is necessarily the end goal
- I just need to be sure if it's yay or nay.
Isn't software interesting?
Thanks for your time and help so far.
Best regards,
Gareth
Gareth Edwards
*Rapid Information Systems Ltd.***
*http://www.rapid-is.co.uk*
gareth.edwa...@rapid-is.co.uk <mailto:gareth.edwa...@rapid-is.co.uk>
Office : 02081239508
Mobile : 07818830430
On 11/06/15 19:36, Maximilian wrote:
On 10/06/2015 12:33, Gareth Edwards wrote:
The big thing everyone wants to know (and no-one seems to be able to
answer), is are the apps made with Rapid also Open Source, i.e. are
app creators obliged to share the code and files for apps they've
made using Rapid with the rest of the Rapid community?
Hello,
This post might seem a bit long - I'm just throwing a few ideas up
into the air here with the usual disclaimers and hoping others will
comment and correct me where I'm wrong.
I had a quick look at Rapid - sounds interesting and something that I
would certainly find useful for, ahem, /rapid/ development and
prototyping and for building admin interfaces for backends :)
To answer your question in brief - not typically.
There would be two ways of looking at the question of whether the
"apps made wth Rapid [are] also Open Source":
1. the licensing terms of Rapid require app developers to release
any applications created with it under a specified licence (e.g.
GPLv3); or
2. apps built on Rapid are derivative works of Rapid itself and
therefore remain within the GPLv3
Regarding point one, the GPLv3 doesn't allow for this. If it did, for
example, documents made with LibreOffice would themselves be licensed
under the GPLv3. Technically I think it would be possible for such a
licence to still be compatible with the Open Source Definition,
although I can't name a licence like that off the top of my head.
With respect to point two, you'd need to show that the apps built
using Rapid are actually derived works. From the viewpoint of the Free
Software Foundation, they would probably see that as the apps are
completely dependent on Rapid, perhaps moreso than a software library,
the apps would therefore form "derivative works" and be licensed under
the GPL. I don't know how successful that argument would be in court,
and especially here as the apps are not seen as modifications or
improvements to Rapid but instead apps in their own right which are
merely interpreted by/linked to Rapid.
Another thing to note is that the GPL only really takes effect on
distribution or propagation of software. Therefore, even if apps were
somehow required to be licensed under the GPLv3 or were otherwise
considered derivative works, app creators wouldn't actually be obliged
to share the code and files with others where they were merely
developing the apps for their own use. It's only where the developer
wants to give (or make available) the app to other people/entities
where that developer would be required to release the source code for
that app.
TL;DR - if you really want to make sure that the apps created with
Rapid are themselves open source then you'd probably want some form of
custom OSD-compatible software licence.
Regards,
Max
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