There’s a big kafuffle going on right now in the tweet/ wordpress/ social world.
Have you heard?
Dave of ThinkDave.com summed it up the best:
- Bill Erikson sent out a Tweet explaining that WordPress had dropped him as a developer because he suppports Thesis (they feel Thesis violates the GPL).
- A bored 12-year old in Elbonia injected some malicious code into the Thesis 1.7 and 1.8 Beta releases, so that anyone installing the theme from these downloads got infected. It’s fixed now
- Matt smacked Chris across the face with a wet fish, suggesting he doesn’t know how to code (how many times has a WordPress site been hacked, Matt?)
- Chris shouted at Matt for an hour on Mixergy.
- Matt sounded bored, like he was reading from a script his lawyers prepared.
- Chris challenged Matt to a duel in the highest court in the land.
- Matt said he might just do that.
- Andrew Warner gave up trying to convince (a) Chris to go GPL with Thesis, and (b) Matt to leave Chris alone.
- #thesiswp trended on Twitter and everybody from me to a dodgy affiliate in Delhi chimed in with an opinion that at the end of the day, doesn’t matter one little bit. Even so: [Read the rest of Dave's Post here]
For those panicking about their Thesis Installation
Nothing to fear – this could all fizzle away or land in courts for years on end. WordPress isn’t about to stop Thesis from working, nor could they according to their own license. And Thesis isn’t about to just leave WordPress – they can’t. So things are pretty well stuck for the time being. Your Thesis-ified sites are safe.
What is the GPL and why the fuss?
It is my understanding that the GNU GPL (General Public License) basically says that the source code of whatever you create must be available, and it is your choice whether you sell or give away your creation. The only restriction is that the GPL is passed on with any copies or derivative works.
WordPress’s position is that any theme or plugin created for WordPress is a derivative work and therefore MUST be licensed by the GPL as well.
Chris Pearson, and Thesis’ position is that his creation is not derivative and he can license it any way he pleases. And he pleases to make money. (As do we all!)
This is a problem, because Matt Mullenweg sees this contradiction as unethical and stunting the growth of the open source community by ‘taking away’ the thesis code from the GPL.
Whats with all the testosterone?
It has become a bit of a pi$$ing match, because Chris Pearson is a bit of a hot head. And I mean that in the nicest way, but seriously? I dont follow him on twitter any longer because he was making remarks years ago ‘in good fun’ that were just infuriating me. But I digress…
How do our themes measure up?
Unless otherwise requested, we use StudioPress themes as our preferred framework. They are licensed by the GPL in accordance with WordPress’s official position on their licensing. Studio Press offers their framework and themes for a fee. Under the GPL, I am free to just take that code, and give it away from my site here. The only restriction is that it contain a copy of the GPL as well.
Our themes? The majority of each theme is released under the GPL, because we use StudioPress, and as such, we are required to license our derivative works the same way. So theoretically, you could take what you purchase from DSWP, post it on your site, and let people take it – as long as they maintain the GPL on it.
The Exception to the Rule
The only thing that I can license separately are the images that we create and the css files that are separate css files from the StudioPress themes. So it gets a bit technical. But anyhow, it doesn’t really make a difference if I slap on a different license, most people want me to do that work for them, and each website to be customized to their specifications.
Strictly, Cathy Speaking
I suppose I’m old school, or I simply don’t understand the ‘freedom’ the GPL offers, but I’m a fan of traditional business models – you do GREAT work, and then people will pay for it. You do exceptional work, and people will pay more. You have great customer service, people will tell their friends. Seems kind of straight forward to me.
So you want a StudioPress theme for free?
You wont get it here. Sorry.
I will only distribute their GPL themes with my own modifications for a fee, and (regrettably) under the GPL license. Once it is yours, you are free to do with it as you please, except for the images and css files. But all my fabulous clients, value the theme that they have paid top dollar for, and will keep it locked away to be safely on display on their site alone.
The Trends for the Future
If Matt and the GNU GPL folks get their way, software will become more and more open-source. It will be available for the good of everybody, where anybody can contribute to create the best possible experience for the end user. The thing that you can’t package and license is the technical support. More and more, developers are offering technical support as a service, either packaged with a software product or alone. And for me, that is the most exciting part.
The exciting thing about WordPress is that for the life of your website, it can now be upgraded with the click of a button, extended with plugins, and content created by yourself. It brings website development into the hands of the everyday internet user. And where those users need an extra hand or dont want to be bothered with their own website, we are always here to assist in any way we can.
We have been looking at trying Thesis, but were having some concerns. Thank you or your insight.