Changes between Version 19 and Version 20 of Scripting and Plugins

Timestamp:

Mar 17, 2010, 4:05:29 AM (14 years ago)

Author:

datallah

Comment:

Add plugin licensing entry - probably could use more work

Scripting and Plugins

@@ -65 +65 @@
 == Where can I find documentation on writing plugins? ==
 If you click the [/doxygen/ API] link in the toolbar above, you will be taken to our doxygen-generated documentation.  There is a [/doxygen/dev/html/pages.html Related Pages] section in the documentation that contains a bunch of useful stuff, including a run-down of all our signals by category, a basic C plugin How-To which is slightly out of date but still a good starting point, and some useful notes on translations support for third-party plugins.  There is also a [/doxygen/dev/html/perl-howto.html How-To on writing Perl scripts], which is outdated as well.  We have begun the work of migrating the [wiki:CHowTo C How-To to the wiki].  We will be expanding it with more information.
+
+== Are there licensing restrictions on plugins? ==
+Yes.  Libpurple is released under a GPL license.  Any derivative works must be released under a compatible license.  The way that plugins work in Libpurple causes them to fall in the "derivative" category and consequently '''MUST''' be released under a GPL compatible license.
+To be clear, this requirement means that plugins '''MAY NOT''' be distributed that use libraries with incompatible licenses (even if they use dynamic linking).[[BR]]
+The FSF maintains [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html a FAQ] about the GPL that contains answers to many common questions.[[BR]]
+If you have any specific questions, feel free to send a message to the [http://pidgin.im/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/devel development mailing list].