Plugins as open source
Development and Programming
I’d like to release a plugin as an open source project, but first I wanted to check to make sure that’s possible, and alright with the team here.
Does anyone know any information regarding this?
The main reasons for this being open source are so that other people can help us make the plugin even better, and so that we can share in helping the development of other plugins.
I apologize if this has already been answered. I searched the forums, docs, and knowledge base with no relevant results.
Thoughts?
pixelmatrix, it us up to you as an author to release your code under an appropriate license. If you want to choose an OSS license (say, the GPL, or some variant, or a CC style license) that is really only your decision to make. EllisLab actively encourages users to develop addons of all sorts, plugins, extensions, or modules, and it certainly claims no right in your derivative work.
So, some people share their work, other market it themselves. In fact, an entire cottage industry has sprung up around creating third-party software designed to work with EE. The only thing we do ask is that you do no redistribute our code, or – in legal mumbo jumbo – (straight from the license):
“You may not … [r]eproduce, distribute, or transfer the Software, or portions thereof, to any third party” and “Components from the Software may not be extracted and used in other programs without prior written consent from EllisLab, Inc.”
That’s it. Now go forth and code (and share) 😊 Thanks for asking.
Hey Ingmar,
Thanks for getting back to me on this! I’m very glad you guys support whatever means of licensing I choose (so long as I am licensing my own code, and not Expression Engine’s).
I’ll be sure to post about it here when it’s available.
- Josh