The Affero License is getting TONS more press lately, and I've found a good link which I'd like to share:
GNU Affero GPL version 3 and the "ASP loophole", by Michael Tiemann at the Open Source Initiative
In doing a little more thinking about the Affero license, what it means to software, and whether or not people use it, I've come up with a few thoughts to share as well:
- You shouldn't have to link back to the original author's site, while that would benefit the original author by means of SEO and traffic, it should be optional.
- However, what shouldn't be optional is the requirement to publish and release under the same license the modifications to the AGPL code which is used to make a [service of some sorts available to the public]
- I believe they use the word "conspicuous" to denote how the source code is to be made available to the end user, but its really tough to say what is conspicuous in terms of network software. Say for example the ASP software doesn't have much of an interface, or links or anything, but is used to provide data feeds of some sorts to the public. There may be times when the public might interface with that service via a "mashup" and never actually interface with the provider of that service. In that case, is the "mashup" provider responsible for the "conspicuous" nature of the link provided by the data feed service provider? Would the data feed provider be responsible for requiring all users of the data feeds, who might in turn mashup the data feed and feed it to others, to agree to the license?
Obviously, the bracketed text above is not clear enough for use in a real license, but I'm just jotting down my notes so that I can try to better understand what's going on with this license.
The case of data feeds and mashups is really interesting, and may cause the agpl to be less ubiquitous as its brethren. Nevertheless, it is a required first step in making open source software work in a networked services world, or virtual world.
"Is it really real or am I still dreaming?" - Sample from a Luke Vibert album