Absolutely.
SMF Bridge for Joomla! Discontinued
SMF Bridge topic on Joomla.org
Joomla have all but confirmed that a vBulletin -> Joomla bridge is impossible under the GPL license. And because of the frequent moving of the goalposts and suppositions on part of Joomla and Free Software Foundation, even the announcement by Joomla core programmers that they plan to separate the API out of Joomla and release the API under LGPL so that commercial add-ons and plugins are permissible seems impossible if they are not going to allow bridges.
Here's my topic that I've started to try to get some answers*. At one point, I had pity on Joomla. That their hands were being tied by the GPL. But further responses have made it clear that they are CHOOSING to interpret the GPL in a way that Linus Torvalds, Rosenlaw, and others find absurd and harmful. At this point, I'm pretty fed up with the situation. For the last 18 months, Joomla users and developers have been investing a significant amount of time (which = money) into learning what will be necessary for the 1.0 -> 1.5 conversion. Developers have spent huge amounts of time learning the brand new 1.5 API. Some of them are in the middle of their product lifecycles, ready to release 1.5 products the moment Joomla goes Gold. Now, at the last minute, Joomla is pulling the rug out from under them and choosing to interpret the GPL license in the most restrictive way possible.
Just to be clear, people try to say that the GPL does not prevent commercial software and does not prevent people making money off their add-ons. What the GPL does say is, YES, you can charge people to download your software, BUT they have the right to make copies and send those copies to whomever they wish, including publishing them on a website. People have tried to say that Joomla add-on developers can make their money by offering service contracts and/or tech support.
The responses from Joomla team members boggle the mind. After their previous tolerance of people writing commercial add-ons to Joomla and/or bridging Joomla with other scripts, now they have come right out and said "the best thing about Joomla is the GPL" (which is nonsense -- the best thing about Joomla is ease of implementation and customization, quality of coding, and availability of high quality free and pay plugins and add-ons) and that "We can survive completely without commercial software". I keep waiting for a haze-filled 60's "love and software should be free" kind of vibe. It's quite odd.
If there is one thing I have learned from this, I will NEVER license software under GPL. It is far too restrictive on users, content integrators, and solution providers. I want people to have freedom to use my software how they see fit (excluding selling it or re-branding it). The GPL is actually very restrictive in this regard. I have no intention of trying to control what my users do with my software. I'm just happy that people find a use for my software and maybe throw me a few bucks in return.
*They have the "GPL Lounge" forum locked down so only the original poster of a question and the Moderators, Developers, and other Joomla Team members and associates can respond to. This is because of 70+ page topics that were mostly directionless and people flaming each other to a crisp. If you want to reply to my topic, post a new topic with an "Re: Yet another post" and they will merge it for you.
SMF Bridge for Joomla! Discontinued
Originally posted by SMFSupport
Joomla have all but confirmed that a vBulletin -> Joomla bridge is impossible under the GPL license. And because of the frequent moving of the goalposts and suppositions on part of Joomla and Free Software Foundation, even the announcement by Joomla core programmers that they plan to separate the API out of Joomla and release the API under LGPL so that commercial add-ons and plugins are permissible seems impossible if they are not going to allow bridges.
Here's my topic that I've started to try to get some answers*. At one point, I had pity on Joomla. That their hands were being tied by the GPL. But further responses have made it clear that they are CHOOSING to interpret the GPL in a way that Linus Torvalds, Rosenlaw, and others find absurd and harmful. At this point, I'm pretty fed up with the situation. For the last 18 months, Joomla users and developers have been investing a significant amount of time (which = money) into learning what will be necessary for the 1.0 -> 1.5 conversion. Developers have spent huge amounts of time learning the brand new 1.5 API. Some of them are in the middle of their product lifecycles, ready to release 1.5 products the moment Joomla goes Gold. Now, at the last minute, Joomla is pulling the rug out from under them and choosing to interpret the GPL license in the most restrictive way possible.
Just to be clear, people try to say that the GPL does not prevent commercial software and does not prevent people making money off their add-ons. What the GPL does say is, YES, you can charge people to download your software, BUT they have the right to make copies and send those copies to whomever they wish, including publishing them on a website. People have tried to say that Joomla add-on developers can make their money by offering service contracts and/or tech support.
The responses from Joomla team members boggle the mind. After their previous tolerance of people writing commercial add-ons to Joomla and/or bridging Joomla with other scripts, now they have come right out and said "the best thing about Joomla is the GPL" (which is nonsense -- the best thing about Joomla is ease of implementation and customization, quality of coding, and availability of high quality free and pay plugins and add-ons) and that "We can survive completely without commercial software". I keep waiting for a haze-filled 60's "love and software should be free" kind of vibe. It's quite odd.
If there is one thing I have learned from this, I will NEVER license software under GPL. It is far too restrictive on users, content integrators, and solution providers. I want people to have freedom to use my software how they see fit (excluding selling it or re-branding it). The GPL is actually very restrictive in this regard. I have no intention of trying to control what my users do with my software. I'm just happy that people find a use for my software and maybe throw me a few bucks in return.
*They have the "GPL Lounge" forum locked down so only the original poster of a question and the Moderators, Developers, and other Joomla Team members and associates can respond to. This is because of 70+ page topics that were mostly directionless and people flaming each other to a crisp. If you want to reply to my topic, post a new topic with an "Re: Yet another post" and they will merge it for you.
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