<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
At PTFS Europe we offer Koha under the GPL. Our Koha hosting service
explicitly gives customers command line access if they want it and
access to the full system and data. We also provide a facility where
all hosted Koha customers get an automatic copy of all of their data to
a destination of their choice, scheduled daily if required.<br>
<br>
BTW we still have not been included in the Pay for Support listing - it
would be great if someone could arrange this<br>
<br>
Thanks<br>
<br>
Nick<br>
-- <br>
Nick Dimant<br>
Managing Director<br>
PTFS Europe Ltd<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:mailman.724.1256239085.957.koha@lists.katipo.co.nz"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">2009/10/23 MJ Ray <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:mjr@phonecoop.coop"><mjr@phonecoop.coop></a>:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Nicolas Morin <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:nicolas.morin@biblibre.com"><nicolas.morin@biblibre.com></a>
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">[...] we at BibLibre
posted an article on our web site about this issue:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.biblibre.com/content/liblime-koha-biblibre-and-floss">http://www.biblibre.com/content/liblime-koha-biblibre-and-floss</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">Amongst other things, that says:
?"BibLibre decided we needed to modify our standard hosting contract
?to close the GPL loophole used by LibLime: in our future contracts,
?and when the current contracts are renewed, an extra article is
?added to the contract which specifies that even though the software
?is hosted, the library has access to the source code, GPLed."
I'm surprised because software.coop's usual contract terms have said
that we "grant permission to the Buyer to use, copy, modify, adapt or
enhance the material supplied in the performance of the Services, so
far as [the co-op] is permitted to grant that permission" since at
least 2006 and probably before (I'd need to check paper files to be
sure).
For Koha, that means you get a copy under the GPL, basically.
What with all the flaming of LibLime for hosting lock-in, I didn't
expect that other Koha vendors weren't making at least that promise
already. ?So - would the other vendors like to state their current
contract permissions? ?Anyone else want to follow the co-op and
BibLibre and make this promise to your buyers?
Also, I'd like to know whether anyone else's hosting-source-access
clause forbids evil tricks like public key encryption? ?Offering
access alone isn't sufficient. ?Also, what about the data?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->As far as Im aware Liblime is the only vendor in the history of Koha,
certainly the only vendor listed on the Koha support page, to refuse
to give the source code, and database access to their customers.
For me thats where the flames are coming from.
I will find out what the Catalyst contracts say, but we don't have and
Software as a Service Koha clients, they are all self hosted. But I
will look just for curiosity sake.
Chris
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>