[dev] Re: Transplanting CK-ERP to the Horde Framework

[C K Wu]

Hi, Chuck,

Chuck Hagenbuch wrote:
> Quoting C K Wu <ckwu at cheerful.com>:
> 
> 
>>If the caption subject is off-topic, please redirect me to the
>>appropriate list and thank you in advance.
> 
> 
> No, this list is fine.
> 
> 
>>I am the developer of CK-ERP, which is a 3rd party accounting/ERP/CRM
>>add-on that runs on top of phpGroupWare.  Recently, I had a problem with
>>the Free Software Foundation (FSF), saying that one of the licensing
>>term of CK-ERP being not GPL compliant.  With phpGroupWare being mostly
>>GPL licensed, FSF indicated that CK-ERP must be GPL'ed too.  While I
>>don't agree with FSF's conclusion, I don't wish to engage in a
>>protracted argument with FSF, so I am trying to find a new home for CK-ERP.
> 
> 
> Huh. :)
> 
> 
>>One of the complication with the whole thing is that CK-ERP is designed
>>to communicate with phpGroupWare via API calls and at the same time,
>>phpGroupWare's API (phpgwapi) is issued under LGPL, so CK-ERP should be
>>well protected against any GPL requirement.  However, one key
>>phpGroupWare developers claim that while phpgwapi is under LGPL, some of
>>its code actually calls on other GPL module/codes, causing FSF to
>>conclude that the LGPL protection is ineffective.  Therefore, while
>>Horde Framework 3 fits perfectly as a new platform for CK-ERP to run on,
>>I am still a bit hesitant.
> 
> 
> With that argument, shouldn't the FSF be saying that the phpgwapi must 
> be GPL, also?

I am not sure.  However, phpgwapi is listed at savannah as a separate 
project issued under LGPL.

> 
> 
>>Perhaps, developers here could confirm if the Horde Framework 3 is fully
>>LGPL'ed and that the Framework does not in term call up other GPL code.
> 
> 
> Well... you can ask it to. Which may be the whole phpgw issue, though 
> I'm not sure. The Horde Framework itself is entirely LGPL. Nothing you 
> do by loading Horde framework libs touches GPL code. It's 
> inter-application communication that gets sticky - for instance, if you 
> want to use Horde's calendar app, that's GPL, and you can do api calls 
> against it. However, nothing in Horde's default configuration makes 
> those calls, so it'd be up to your app. Also, Horde lets you say what 
> application provides any given API, so if you wanted to provide an LGPL 
> or BSD licensed calendar app for your app to use that could interact 
> with the rest of Horde seemlessly, you can just do another 
> implementation of the calendar/ API.
> 
> That help?
> 

That certainly helps.  I guess that means I would have to study each API 
call very careful and try to avoid as far as possible calling 
non-framework applications.

> 
>>For a demo of CK-ERP, please refer to http://ck-erp.sourceforge.net
>>(English) or http://ck-erp.org (Simplified Chinese).
> 
> 
> Is there any information available besides the demo? What *is* the license?

At the demo site, after logging in, when accessing each module, the 
index page will show a full page of info.  At the top of the developer 
column, there is a clause,

<quote>
<module> is GPL software. If you display this -- Welcome to <module> -- 
page exactly as it is, or display this same page's translation (into a 
different language), without loss of meaning, then you may redistribute 
and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as 
published by the Free Software Foundation.
</quote>

It is this clause that is under contention.  Since the index page 
contains various pitfalls and shortcomings of CK-ERP, I insist that this 
index page should be retained in any re-distribution of CK-ERP for the 
benefit of final CK-ERP end users.  FSF doesn't like this condition, 
therefore concludes that CK-ERP is not GPL compliant.

This is early day yet.  I would study the Horde Framework 3 code 
carefully and come back to you in a later while.

Cheers,
CK

> 
> -chuck
>