I have installed Koha in a local library. Our installation is only available on our local area network, not exposed to the internet. Early on we had a request to be able to print our library cards and spine labels in a format that was not possible by Koha. So I made some minor changes to the label and patron card routines to produce what we needed. I'm perfectly willing to share the code I modified, but I don't think I know how to re-package it as a source tar-ball. If we go to GPLv3 or AGPLv3, would I have to make available the whole source package? I know that a number of libraries have modified the CSS and the front page. Would they have to make the whole source available? -- Bob
On 11 May 2010 14:25, Bob Ewart <bob-ewart@att.net> wrote:
I have installed Koha in a local library. Our installation is only available on our local area network, not exposed to the internet. Early on we had a request to be able to print our library cards and spine labels in a format that was not possible by Koha. So I made some minor changes to the label and patron card routines to produce what we needed. I'm perfectly willing to share the code I modified, but I don't think I know how to re-package it as a source tar-ball.
If we go to GPLv3 or AGPLv3, would I have to make available the whole source package?
I know that a number of libraries have modified the CSS and the front page. Would they have to make the whole source available?
Hi Bob Short answer is no, the code you have modified was released to you under the GPLv2 or later, and as such you modifications need only be shared if you distribute the code . If it moved to GPLv3 then you still have these rules GPLv3 doesn't add the network clause that AGPL3 does, (and this only applies to newly released code, the code you were given under gplv2 or later remains under gplv2 or later). But we have the option to include code under AGPL3 (you can't mix and match AGPL3 and GPLv2). If we did include AGPL3 code, then the work as a whole becomes covered by it. So upgrading to GPLv3 doesn't mean we have to move on to AGPLv3, but it does give us the option to. Thank you very much for asking these questions, we are full in discussion mode and questions like these I hope will prompt people more versed in the letters of the license than me to answer also. Any license change made has of course as its end goal protecting the users four essential freedoms. I think thats something we can all agree on even if we are still coming to an agreement on how to best do that. Chris
On ma, 2010-05-10 at 22:25 -0400, Bob Ewart wrote:
I have installed Koha in a local library. Our installation is only available on our local area network, not exposed to the internet. Early on we had a request to be able to print our library cards and spine labels in a format that was not possible by Koha. So I made some minor changes to the label and patron card routines to produce what we needed. I'm perfectly willing to share the code I modified, but I don't think I know how to re-package it as a source tar-ball.
If we go to GPLv3 or AGPLv3, would I have to make available the whole source package?
I know that a number of libraries have modified the CSS and the front page. Would they have to make the whole source available?
If the CSS is specified as being part of Koha, and Koha as a whole is licensed under AGPLv3 (or later), then I think they'll have to do that. Doing that can be made really easy. So easy that it does not differ from the current way of installing Koha at all. The Koha installation can create the tarball for you. If providing the tarball for download would be too risky for you from a bandwidth point of view, the installation script can provide a patch instead, which probably be quite small. Alternatively, we can make it possible for you to push the changes to a public git repository, and have your Koha installation link there. It is not necessary to provide a tarball at all, and you won't have to provide bandwidth for distributing the changes yourself. There is a cost involved with moving to AGPLv3+, but we can make it be quite small. The actual details of how to implement that are undecided, this early in the discussion, but it's entirely doable, and won't be all that hard, either.
Op vrijdag 14-05-2010 om 10:30 uur [tijdzone +1200], schreef Lars Wirzenius:
Doing that can be made really easy. So easy that it does not differ from the current way of installing Koha at all.
Additionally, if it's only available on the intranet, I would suspect (without having verified this) that you wouldn't have to make the changes available on the internet. -- Robin Sheat Catalyst IT Ltd. ✆ +64 4 803 2204
Robin Sheat wrote:
Op vrijdag 14-05-2010 om 10:30 uur [tijdzone +1200], schreef Lars Wirzenius:
Doing that can be made really easy. So easy that it does not differ from the current way of installing Koha at all.
Additionally, if it's only available on the intranet, I would suspect (without having verified this) that you wouldn't have to make the changes available on the internet.
I looked at the AGPLv3 License http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html What I think I read is that making the source available is necessary if I "convey" the program to someone else. Since my modifications are only to print patron cards or spine labels in our local format, that doesn't seem likely. The question then becomes; if I wanted to show those changes as examples of how to make patron cards with a logo, patron name, expiration date etc., can I do that without having to make available the whole package? -- Bob
On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 9:22 PM, Bob Ewart <bob-ewart@att.net> wrote:
Robin Sheat wrote:
Op vrijdag 14-05-2010 om 10:30 uur [tijdzone +1200], schreef Lars Wirzenius:
Doing that can be made really easy. So easy that it does not differ from the current way of installing Koha at all.
Additionally, if it's only available on the intranet, I would suspect (without having verified this) that you wouldn't have to make the changes available on the internet.
I looked at the AGPLv3 License http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html
What I think I read is that making the source available is necessary if I "convey" the program to someone else. Since my modifications are only to print patron cards or spine labels in our local format, that doesn't seem likely.
Take a closer look at paragraph 13. This paragraph clearly applies to any browser based software of which Koha is one. That said, this paragraph also states: "your modified version must prominently offer all users interacting with it remotely through a computer network (if your version supports such interaction) an opportunity to receive the Corresponding Source of your version by providing access to the Corresponding Source from a network server at no charge, through some standard or customary means of facilitating copying of software." So what Robin said is accurate. If your Koha is only accessible on your local network, then the code would only have to be made available to your users. As Lars said: Functionality can easily be added to Koha to supply a variety of ways to satisfy this requirement with relative ease.
The question then becomes; if I wanted to show those changes as examples of how to make patron cards with a logo, patron name, expiration date etc., can I do that without having to make available the whole package?
The best way to do this in any case would be to submit a patch to patches@koha.org for inclusion in the official distribution of Koha. I'm sure there would be many who would be interested in a css method of accomplishing these things. Kind Regards, Chris
The question then becomes; if I wanted to show those changes as examples of how to make patron cards with a logo, patron name, expiration date etc., can I do that without having to make available the whole package?
The best way to do this in any case would be to submit a patch to patches@koha.org for inclusion in the official distribution of Koha. I'm sure there would be many who would be interested in a css method of accomplishing these things.
Kind Regards, Chris
Yes. I am presently working on this to accomplish label printing in Devanagari and also barcode labels etc using CSS. So it would be really nice to have it submitted as a patch so as to avoid duplication of efforts.. Regards, Koustubha Kale Anant Corporation Contact Details : Address : 103, Armaan Residency, R. W Sawant Road, Nr. Golden Dyes Naka, Thane (w), Maharashtra, India, Pin : 400601. TeleFax : +91-22-21720108, +91-22-21720109 Mobile : +919820715876 Website : http://www.anantcorp.com Blog : http://www.anantcorp.com/blog/?author=2
participants (6)
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Bob Ewart -
Chris Cormack -
Chris Nighswonger -
Koustubha Kale -
Lars Wirzenius -
Robin Sheat