JED Listings Caution

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Nick Savov

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Sep 15, 2011, 3:11:34 PM9/15/11
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Hey everyone,

Just a word of caution, if you have any GPL extensions that are listed
on the JED and some non-GPL extensions on your own site, all your
extensions on the JED *may* be unpublished from the JED.

See:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=655313

Kind regards,
Nick

Rob Stocker

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Sep 15, 2011, 3:53:13 PM9/15/11
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Hi Nick,
I've read your posts on the forum and wish to congratulate you for taking this issue to heart , and supporting hikashop the way you did. Highly commendable.

I think the rule should be clearly placed in the TOS and strictly adhered to.

I was stunned today while hacking away at Frontpage Slideshow only to discover it was not GPL. I have been using this extension on numerous sites, under the assumption that it was on the JED. I have used a joomlaworks extension on every site I've ever built and  I feel I was tricked.

 I happily pay for extensions and will even use a non-gpl one if I have no other option. But I expect anything that revolves around the official joomsphere to be safe and I should not be obliged to double check the licences for every extension I buy. (- the notion of having to check the licence of a gpl derivative is absurd by definition.)

I also think that those who don't release ALL their joomla extensions  as gpl (or encode their own framework plugins) send out the wrong message to the community. It's as if they comply with the gpl when and where they do, only because they have to, to stay on the JED.. And the fact that large players within our community do this, really irks me.

thanks for highlighting this important topic.

Rob


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brian teeman

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Sep 15, 2011, 3:55:21 PM9/15/11
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Hasn't there always been the rule that JED will not link to sites that promote and distribute non GPL extensions.

Nicholas Dionysopoulos

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Sep 15, 2011, 4:33:16 PM9/15/11
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Hi Rob,

AFAIK, FrontPage Slideshow is GPL (the PHP part of it), but it also contains some non-GPL JavaScript. This is not against the GPL as, technically, JS and CSS are media files and not linked directly with the PHP code. In terms of relation to the code, they constitute aggregation and are therefore not subject to the terms of the GPL which pertains to the rest of the code. It's the same as templates which have a GPL PHP framework and proprietary graphics files. If, however, you found a non-GPL PHP file, let me know so that I can inform Fotis (the owner of JoomlaWorks who I also know personally) so that they can fix that issue.

Cheers,

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com

Sent from my iPad. Please excuse my brevity.

Nick Savov

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Sep 15, 2011, 4:51:45 PM9/15/11
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Cheers, Rob! We're all in this together :) It's extremely encouraging the
responses I've gotten today from different people! Based on those
responses, I know that Joomla and the Joomla community will only be
stronger once all the dust settles! :)

Kind regards,
Nick

> <http://goog_1827821969>091 877 335
> in...@emc23.com
> www.emc23.com
>

Nick Savov

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Sep 15, 2011, 4:53:49 PM9/15/11
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Don't think so. Plus the "rule" is not in the TOS.

Kind regards,
Nick

> Hasn't there always been the rule that JED will not link to sites that
> promote and distribute non GPL extensions.
>

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Nick Savov

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Sep 15, 2011, 4:55:50 PM9/15/11
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Not according to their new terms and conditions:
http://www.joomlaworks.gr/content/view/23/33/

FrontPage Slideshow is non-GPL now.

Kind regards,
Nick

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 15, 2011, 4:57:49 PM9/15/11
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Thanks Nick,

I had an older version of FPS (from last year). I hadn't checked their new TOS. Darn, that's disappointing :(

-- 

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com

On Thursday, 15 September 2011 at 23:55, Nick Savov wrote:

Not according to their new terms and conditions:
http://www.joomlaworks.gr/content/view/23/33/

FrontPage Slideshow is non-GPL now.

Kind regards,
Nick

Hi Rob,

AFAIK, FrontPage Slideshow is GPL (the PHP part of it), but it also
contains some non-GPL JavaScript. This is not against the GPL as,
technically, JS and CSS are media files and not linked directly with the
PHP code. In terms of relation to the code, they constitute aggregation
and are therefore not subject to the terms of the GPL which pertains to
the rest of the code. It's the same as templates which have a GPL PHP
framework and proprietary graphics files. If, however, you found a non-GPL
PHP file, let me know so that I can inform Fotis (the owner of JoomlaWorks
who I also know personally) so that they can fix that issue.

Cheers,

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com
Web: https://www.akeebabackup.com
Blog: http://www.dionysopoulos.me/blog

Sent from my iPad. Please excuse my brevity.

15 Óåð 2011, 22:53, ï/ç Rob Stocker <in...@emc23.com> Ýãñáøå:

Nick Savov

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Sep 15, 2011, 6:07:05 PM9/15/11
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You're welcome!

Yeah, it is disappointing but I can't blame JoomlaWorks for wanting to
make a living off of their work. Part of the bigger problem is that some
parts of the JED are very closed and unresponsive (I had difficulty find
the words, but I think those two explain it) and that makes it very
difficult to continue a thriving extension community and even more
difficult for individual developers to stick around when they are ignored
.

Examples of unresponsiveness would be going 3 months, 1 month, 2 months
without a reply (happens quite a bit...just check the JED forum). It's
hard to run a business focused around Joomla when your extension goes
unpublished for long periods of time (as the JED puts it..."Up to 31 days
or more") and the JED Team doesn't make any contact for over a month.
It's very unprofessional going that long without a reply.

But they are just volunteers right? Kind of, quite a bit more though. They
are in volunteer positions and we've entrusted them with certain
responsibilities. When you don't hear from someone for three months after
repeated attempts at contact, that's negligence.

I truly do understand that (1) they can't do everything and respond
instantly and (2) that it should be a community effort. The JED is the
community's responsibility and is not solely on the shoulders of the JED
Team. So the solution is to get more of the community involved to help on
the JED Team, BUT... it's closed (due to unresponsiveness).

A great example of being closed would be someone (or several people)
volunteering to help and never getting a reply back.

A totally different example of being closed is in the way of thinking. I
remember you had a blog post about an index.html
(http://www.dionysopoulos.me/blog/the-files-of-wrath). The reasonable
thing in that situation isn't "these are the rules, we're not changing
them." I had a very similar experience with the JED Team (specifically
one person) and the more I'm around the more occurrences I see of these
sort of things happening to other people.

I've given many praises to the JED Team in the past and still give praise
where praise is due, but I can't turn a blind eye (or close my mouth:P )
when our community members like Hikashop are being ignored and
discriminated. If Hikashop goes, who's next? I love Joomla and it's
community and want to see their success.

Kind regards,
Nick

>> > Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com (http://AkeebaBackup.com)


>> > Web: https://www.akeebabackup.com
>> > Blog: http://www.dionysopoulos.me/blog
>> > Sent from my iPad. Please excuse my brevity.

>> > 15 ��� 2011, 22:53, �/� Rob Stocker <in...@emc23.com
>> (mailto:in...@emc23.com)> ������:

>> (mailto:ni...@iowawebcompany.com)>


>> > > wrote:
>> > > Hey everyone,
>> > > Just a word of caution, if you have any GPL extensions that are
>> listed
>> > > on the JED and some non-GPL extensions on your own site, all your
extensions on the JED *may* be unpublished from the JED.
>> > > See:
>> > > http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=655313
>> > > Kind regards,
>> > > Nick
>> > > --
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>> > > For more options, visit this group at
>> > > http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general?hl=en-GB. -- Rob
& Lisa - EMC23
>> > > 083 416 0618
>> > > 091 877 335

>> > > in...@emc23.com (mailto:in...@emc23.com)
>> > > www.emc23.com (http://www.emc23.com)


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Marius van Rijnsoever

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Sep 15, 2011, 8:18:33 PM9/15/11
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Hi All,

Its really sad to read that JED is causing a nightmare for "selected
developers" only. Reading the forum posts it seems that a developer
made an easy mistake in the description of his extension (which he
fixed immediately) and has never been able to republish his extension
as then different "violations" were applied and the JED team is
unresponsive for more than 3 months. Either the rule "no non-GPL
extension should be present on the developers website" should be
applied to all or it should be removed.

option 1:
If this rule is applied to all JED, it would result in hundreds of the
current listings being removed including many popular extension.

option 2:
This rule should really be removed as it does not make sense and is
unfairly penalising a selected few "offenders".

It is understandable that there is a waiting period for many things in
the JED, as it is run by volunteers. However this should NOT be the
case when listings have been removed by the JED team itself. You can
not take away the livelihood of developers and then never again be
heard of.

Thanks, Marius

Terrance Arthur

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Sep 15, 2011, 8:34:36 PM9/15/11
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The eclectic EASEL - Joomla! Professionals


I'm glad some of us are paying attention. Thanks guys. I wonder if it would be any more productive if we moved this conversation to the jPeople group for the JED


they claimed one year ago:


"At the Joomla! Extensions Directory (JED) we welcome your suggestions and input. We've asked for your input on our rating system, listing descriptions, review system, and our Terms of Service (TOS). The suggestions coming in have been great and we really appreciate the in-depth discussions that have been taking place. Thank you for taking time out of your day to give us your opinion.

We now want to go one step further to help facilitate these discussions. The JED board on the Joomla! forum has been overwhelmed with a variety of topics, and it is starting to get difficult to sort between support topics and suggestion topics. In order to better receive community input, we would like to ask everyone to utilize the
J!People JED Group to make suggestions and have discussions for changes to the way the site and Team operate."


It would at least publicize this issue more if these very cogent arguments were put on the web for all to read.


I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't hesitate to contact me.


Kind regards,

Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
Always in touch with my clients!
24/7 toll free support (800) 669-0729 or text (904) 385-0043

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elin

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Sep 15, 2011, 8:38:59 PM9/15/11
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This has been JED policy for many years, ever since the GPL only rules went into effect, although enforcement and more importantly investigation has been more or less strict at various times. Being in the JED is  great big carrot for encouraging license compliance that means the the project has never had to  do an enforcement letter to an extension developer as far as I know. This is because over time virtually everyone has realized that being in the JED and other project property is well worth having to go through the adjustment of coming into compliance.  

If you don't want to be GPL in your extension PHP you are in conflict with the project's stance on the licensing of extensions, and it is totally reasonable for the project to say that it will not help to indirectly  support violations of the license (by allowing  a dev to effectively use a token jed extension to bring customers to your site to buy extensions that violate the license) (nothing stops you from making a second separate site for your license violating extensions if that is what you want to do), which protects the work that people have freely contributed under the GPL and make available at no cost as a platform for developers to make their living off of. 

I personally believe strongly in using carrots to reward compliance with the license rather than sticks of punishing non compliance such as sending legal letters or publicly going after violators (compare with the WP/Thesis mess). 

Elin

Nick Savov

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Sep 15, 2011, 9:23:00 PM9/15/11
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Hi Elin,

Great feedback! I respect you and the work that you do every much, so I
hope you don't take my following questions the wrong way or out of
context:

If it's a JED policy then why does JoomlaWorks not have to follow it?
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2614470#p2614470

If it's a JED policy then why does the leader of the JED team (who should
know the policy) make an exception for JoomlaWorks but not AcyMailing or
Hikashop?
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2614489#p2614489

If it's a JED policy then why is this not in the Terms of Service?
http://extensions.joomla.org/tos

If it's a JED policy, when and where was it publicly stated as a JED policy?

If it's a JED policy, why won't the JED talk about it?

As extension developers we agree to the TOS upon submitting extensions. If
it's a policy put it on the TOS. It's unfair, and just plain wrong, of
the JED Team to go 3 months without responding to someone when that person
has made every effort to be compliant (as is even now changing the pro
version to GPL, which will be available in October) and then to turn
around and give someone else preferential treatment!

Kind regards,
Nick

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Terrance Arthur

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Sep 15, 2011, 10:04:08 PM9/15/11
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The eclectic EASEL - Joomla! Professionals


I agree carrots are way better than sticks and stones


it does seems like the JED covered themselves and the unequal treatment with the "but not the obligation" part


they can leave in or put out whatever they want


but they clearly state that they can penalize you for an amount of time based on the frequency and seriousness of the violations - perhaps that is the source of the unequal treatment the complaints are about?


F - Violations of the Terms of Use and/or Directory Guidelines

We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the Joomla Extensions Directory and usage of the site. Any activity that is suspected to be in conflict with the rules, as determined by the CLT, Joomla Extensions Directory team management or their appointees, will:

  • Be investigated by the assigned team member in conjunction with a Team Manager. During the time of investigation, up to 14 days, a listing may be temporarily unpublished and the listing owner notified. If an email is sent to the listing owner during this time, a response must be received within 5 days, otherwise the investigation will end and the listing owner will have waived their rights to a suspension review.
  • If a violation is found, the violating account will be immediately deactivated and any listings will be unpublished for a defined period based on the frequency of violations and the level of seriousness.

Depending on the Suspension period, the developer may seek a suspension review by the JED Council and a member of the CLT, with the member of the CLT being the final decision maker.
If no reply to the suspension notice is received in 14 days, the extension will be permanently removed from the Joomla Extensions Directory.

 

you also have a deadline for responding or you just get deleted permanently hopefully none of the extensions in this discussion missed it




I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't hesitate to contact me.


Kind regards,

Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
Always in touch with my clients!
24/7 toll free support (800) 669-0729 or text (904) 385-0043

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Nick Savov

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Sep 15, 2011, 10:53:20 PM9/15/11
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Hey Terrance,

Good point :) But make sure you're quoting from:
http://extensions.joomla.org/tos

and not from:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2381398

So legally they are not obligated to monitor JoomlaWorks, but if we're
going to interpret things legally then it must be noted that legally the
JED Team has broken the TOS by unpublishing Hikashop for a "rule" that is
not specified in the agreement (the TOS). Near the end of the TOS it says
"Any dispute with respect to our Site shall be governed by the laws of the
State of Maryland". I'm pretty sure that in Maryland you're not allowed
to violate an agreement (TOS) that you've made with another party by
adding conditions on top of that agreement that weren't agreed to in the
agreement. Sure the TOS says that the rules can be changed at any time,
but the rules haven't been changed. It's still the same TOS and still
without that hidden "rule".

Now to put aside all the legal stuff, the JED Team owes it to the
community to do things fairly and to quit with the biases. If the JED has
a community to serve, treat people equally. If there is policy, apply it
to everyone and don't make preferential exceptions. If they have a policy
hidden away in some document somewhere, put it in the TOS so that there is
no question about it. Not only that but publicly announce it (blog post,
posting on this Google group, and a tweet is more than enough). When will
people learn that communication is vital? I don't think anything that I've
stated is asking for too much.

BTW, I know you're not saying all the stuff I objected to in my last two
paragraphs, but just had to get it out there :)

Kind regards,
Nick


> [image: The eclectic EASEL - Joomla! Professionals]
> I agree carrots are way better than sticks and stones
> it does seems like the JED covered themselves and the unequal treatment
with
> the "but not the obligation" part
> they can leave in or put out whatever they want
> but they clearly state that they can penalize you for an amount of time
based on the frequency and seriousness of the violations - perhaps that
is
> the source of the unequal treatment the complaints are about?

> *F - Violations of the Terms of Use and/or Directory Guidelines* We
reserve the right, *but not the obligation*, to monitor the content


of
> the Joomla Extensions Directory and usage of the site. Any activity that is
> suspected to be in conflict with the rules, as determined by the CLT,
Joomla
> Extensions Directory team management or their appointees, will:

> - Be investigated by the assigned team member in conjunction with a


> Team
> Manager. During the time of investigation, up to 14 days, a listing
may
> be
> temporarily unpublished and the listing owner notified. If an email
is
> sent
> to the listing owner during this time, a response must be received
> within 5
> days, otherwise the investigation will end and the listing owner will
> have
> waived their rights to a suspension review.

> - If a violation is found, the violating account will be
> immediately *deactivated


> and any listings will be unpublished for a defined period based on
the

> frequency of violations and the level of seriousness.*


> Depending on the Suspension period, the developer may seek a suspension
review by the JED Council and a member of the CLT, with the member of
the
> CLT being the final decision maker.

> *If no reply to the suspension notice is received in 14 days, the extension
> will be permanently removed from the Joomla Extensions Directory.* you


also have a deadline for responding or you just get deleted
> permanently
> hopefully none of the extensions in this discussion missed it
> I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't
hesitate
> to
> contact me.
> Kind regards,
> Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
> Always in touch with my clients!
> 24/7 toll free support (800) 669-0729 or text (904) 385-0043

> Follow Me: <http://www.linkedin.com/in/eclecticeasel>
> LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/in/eclecticeasel>
> <http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/terryarthur/>
> StumbleUpon<http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/terryarthur/>
> <http://twitter.com/terryarthur> Twitter
<http://twitter.com/terryarthur>


> Contact me: [image: Google Talk] terry...@gmail.com [image:
> Skype]terryarthur [image:
> MSN] terry...@gmail.com [image: Y! messenger] terrancewarthur [image:
AIM] terry...@gmail.com

Chris Burgess

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Sep 16, 2011, 12:35:51 AM9/16/11
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Do any of the JED team follow this group, or is all this fine
argumentation somewhat going to waste preaching to the converted (i.e.
other developers)?

I guess it also must be said, while there may be some legitimate
concerns here, the JED team probably have the right to defend
themselves and put their perspective forward, which they may not do
here (I'm relatively new, so I'm not sure). Particularly when there
are accusations of bias flying about, whether it's intentional bias or
otherwise. It's not a trivial accusation, and I'm sure we'd all like
to hear some response from the other side of this debate.

If this debate, as Terrance suggested also, has been taken elsewhere
where the JED team are more likely to hear it and respond, I'd love to
follow this issue further.

It sounds to me, at any rate, Nick, that most people around here agree
with much of what you've said, myself included.
> <http://twitter.com/terryarthur>> Contact me: [image: Google Talk] terryart...@gmail.com [image:
> > Skype]terryarthur [image:
> > MSN] terryart...@gmail.com [image: Y! messenger] terrancewarthur [image:
>
> AIM] terryart...@gmail.com

Marius van Rijnsoever

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Sep 16, 2011, 12:49:18 AM9/16/11
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The practise of offering GPL extensions on the JED, to then also sell
non-GPL extension on that website is extremely common on the JED. 5
minute of searching revealed hundreds of violations:

http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/owner/Blogomunity
(7 extenstions, sells many ioncube non-gpl extensions on the same
website with "lite" GPL equivalents in JED)

http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/owner/Atomant
(141 extensions, specifically restricts GPL "freedoms" and is not GPL
http://www.joomla-payment-gateways.osdcs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=6

http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/owner/joomlaworks
(14 extension, sells non-GPL extensions on the same website)

http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/owner/joohopia
(7 extension, sells extension by domain name, not compatible with GPL)

http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/owner/grvulture
(10 extensions, sells non-GPL extensions on websiet and offers "lite"
extension on JED)
http://www.axxis.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=66


On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 8:38 AM, elin <elin....@gmail.com> wrote:
> I personally believe strongly in using carrots to reward compliance with the
> license rather than sticks of punishing non compliance such as sending legal
> letters or publicly going after violators (compare with the WP/Thesis
> mess).

Removing extensions immediately without developers comments and jed
having months in response times is as close as you can get to a stick
:)

My opinion is that the requirement to only allow developers that ONLY
develop GPL extension onto the JED is over the top. It can't be
policed, hundreds of current jed extensions do this and it is not in
the JED TOC.

My recommendation to Hikashop would be to bypass the JED moderators
(they have taken months) and escalate it to the leadership team as per
the JED guidelines.

Thanks, Marius

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 1:05:57 AM9/16/11
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Great questions! Welcome to the group by the way! I'm relatively new as
well :)

I mostly said it on here so that other developers are aware. It was also
good for me to get off my chest to be honest.

In answer to your question, yes, some members of the JED Team follow this
group (although I don't know how closely they follow), however the best
place for discussion is on the JED Feedback forum or the jPeople group.
I'm not very familiar with the jPeople group so I hang out at the forum.

The leader of the JED Team, Matt L., has already stated on the JED Forum
that the forum is a form of direct feedback, see:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=643758&p=2582810#p2582810

Therefore, if you'd like feedback from the JED Team I'd suggest you post
it in the actual discussion on the forum where it was brought up:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=655313

As you can see, there still isn't a response, although several members of
the JED Team have been online on that JED Forum in the last few days. How
do I know? There's a nice little feature at the bottom of the forum that
states "Users browsing this forum". I'm not at all saying that they are
required to answer that minute or anything like that, but just that they
do know and have chosen for whatever reason to not respond thus far. They
could have family life, job, etc, etc, that's more important and I
completely understand that! :) My main concern is when issues go
unanswered for months and just tossed to the side.

Kind regards,
Nick

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 7:45:48 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
This came about as a direct result of HikaShop being removed from JED afaik

--
Bear / N6REJ

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 7:49:51 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
This is a very good point. If this rule of no non-gpl items on the site
stays, then your biggest names in the joomla community will no longer be
on jed. This would either spell the end of JED or something far worse.
Troy

--
Bear / N6REJ

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 7:56:05 AM9/16/11
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If I've just read this http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=585389 properly.  THe new rules for jed basically says everything there is owned by joomla and they can do ANYTHING to it they want to?
Troy
--
Bear / N6REJ

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:02:03 AM9/16/11
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Troy,

Read that forum post again. It reads "the copyright to the materials and reviews in the Directory". Basically, it says that OSM can use your component description and all of the reviews you have received as they see fit. It also means that you can not copy the reviews off the JED without asking OSM permission. This was done to deter developers using JED reviews as selling points by copying them verbatim in their own sites. The copyright of the extensions listed is of course not affected.

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:11:26 AM9/16/11
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Just for my own clarification....
GPL = the right for others to take your software ( even if you sell it ) and do anything with it they wish.  Even put it out on the net for free.
Which means EVERY template club out there is in violation.
Which means virtually all the commercial extensions are in violation.
here's an excerpt straight from gnu
=====================

We maintain this free software definition to show clearly what must be true about a particular software program for it to be considered free software. From time to time we revise this definition to clarify it. If you would like to review the changes we've made, please see the History section below for more information.

“Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.”

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms:

  • The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
  • The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
  • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
  • The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
========================

Now please feel free to correct me.  I admittedly  know very little about this and its always been a bit fuzzy

Troy

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:18:31 AM9/16/11
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The content of the message has not been downloaded yet.

David Barrett

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:22:29 AM9/16/11
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The important phrase in my opinion being: “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.”

 

It is a philosophy more than anything, and one that many developers have a hard time understanding – because it does essentially mean that if someone wanted to, they could take your code and redistribute it.

 

But in my opinion this can be turned to a good developer’s advantage.  You have to change your business model.  For a useful extension, the vast majority of people would rather that they obtained it from the original developer.  They are happy to pay a reasonable price for support and updates.  So, the easiest business model to implement in my opinion is to charge for the support and access to the parts of the site where the component can be obtained.  This is entirely within GPL scope.

 

There are many advantages to GPL once you have managed to get over the initial “but that means anyone can copy my software!” idea.  The world moves on, GPL creates communities in a way that proprietary software never can.  I have had suggestions in my forums and bugfixes by users in a couple of cases.  If my component(s) were encrypted/protected etc. a lot more work would have been involved for both the user and myself in these cases.

 

Must be said, my bugbear is the exclusion of JavaScript from GPL.  I have had this argument before with the FSF, but there is no point going over it.  I believe that if you truly embrace GPL (rather than just use it to get listed on JED, for example), then you will not encrypt any part of your component.  And yes, it is possible to make a living this way.

 

Regards,

Dave Barrett
MCSA
Office: 01962 658999

Mobile: 07799 411974

http://www.cedit.biz

http://www.outlookrulesmanager.com - sorting your inbox so you don't have to
http://www.registrationvalidator.com - protect your Joomla! site from bots and spammers

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/emeamsgdev - Microsoft Messaging Developer Blog

--

Andrew Eddie

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:24:10 AM9/16/11
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People, this is an interesting discussion but I need to remind you this is a development list. The forum and jpeople sites have avenues for feedback on Jed policy, etc. Thanks for your understanding.

Regards
Andre Eddie

Rob Stocker

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:30:04 AM9/16/11
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No disrespect Andrew but  "this is a development list" and we are all developers and this is about development and developers. And the other avenues have proved completely fruitless for the likes of Nick and Hikashop.

We wish to discuss this amongst ourselves, not with the JED group (although that is a goal too) or Jpeople.

Rob Stocker



Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:39:04 AM9/16/11
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Thanks david.  This is the first time I've even thought about how this all works.  And strangely is on the cusp of me getting ready to create a "commercial" product which I've not done before.  I've always just 'put it out there'
I completely agree that software that is "encoded" should not be considered GPL.. its obviously NOT open source.   So I can't "modify it".

I always thought that as long as the code was readable , modifiable, that the 'source was open" and I could substantially change it and then it could become "my" product that that was "open source" and "gpl".
Troy
--
Bear / N6REJ

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:43:00 AM9/16/11
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> --
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> Groups "Joomla! General Development" group.
> To post to this group, send an email to
> joomla-de...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
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I disagree. we need EVERYONE involved in this. This is a HUGE issue,
literally right @ the core of J! and reminds me very very much of the
time when SMF bridge was forced off JED.

From my very naive perspective as I currently understand it. EVERY
commercial extension is in violation of the GPL. Especially company's
like Yoo and RocketTheme who charge for templates and while you are free
to change them, you are not free to resell nor especially give away
their products. Again feel free to correct me.
I do agree with Andrew in that we need JED and more importantly OSM
involved in this as well. Ultimately I guess its up to OSM to make the
decision about how Joomla is going to handle this as JED is not its own
entity afaik.

Rouven Weßling

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:51:29 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com

On 16.09.2011, at 14:43, Troy wrote:

> From my very naive perspective as I currently understand it. EVERY commercial extension is in violation of the GPL. Especially company's like Yoo and RocketTheme who charge for templates and while you are free to change them, you are not free to resell nor especially give away their products. Again feel free to correct me.

Only the PHP part of a extension or template have to be licensed as GPL under the JED rules. Since you can license images, css and javascript however you want thus effectively limiting distribution of the extension/template.

> I do agree with Andrew in that we need JED and more importantly OSM involved in this as well. Ultimately I guess its up to OSM to make the decision about how Joomla is going to handle this as JED is not its own entity afaik.

The JED operates under the Community Leadership Team so I assume in the end it is their call.

Rouven

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:54:43 AM9/16/11
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Troy,

Stating that EVERY commercial extension on the JED is in violation of the GPL is at least insulting. I am creating commercial GPL extensions and, in fact, put EVERYTHING under the provisions of the GPL v3 or later, including CSS, Javascript and media files (except for the icons which belong to Everaldo's Crystal icon collection, are made by a third party and have their own license). I do that even though I fully know that this makes it legally impossible for me to request DMCA takedown notices for illegal copies on warez sites or restricting the number of domains the software can be installed, therefore having a negative impact on my income. I do so because I respect users' Freedom and put it higher than my self interest. In fact, I chose to use GPL v3 instead of v2 because I wanted to ensure that you, my users, would have absolute Freedom over the software, even in the case I or a third party ever acquired a patent for algorithms I use in my software. Obviously, this also comes at a cost for me. Giving away all that and still being called off by the false generalisations of some guy on a public list is not my idea of the spirit of the GPL. GPL is about mutual understanding and co-operation, not generalisations and witch hunts.

As a result your generalisation is not only wrong, it is grossly insulting and even slanderous. Watch out what you're saying. This is a public list.

Sorry for the off-topic post.

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com

David Barrett

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:08:21 AM9/16/11
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I think you took insult there where none was intended in the slightest.  Troy is openly stating he doesn’t understand much of the detail of GPL.  There is nothing more sinister in the comments at all.

 

And GPL means that there is no such thing as an illegal copy on a Warez site… or in fact, an illegal copy.  I am a developer and a user.  As such, I know that as a user I want to have full access to the software I use if possible (including source, as this interests me as a developer).  This means that as a developer I must allow this, and hope others do too.  I don’t believe that there needs to be a cost for GPL, just a change of attitude and/or business models.  People prefer openness, and this is what GPL is.  Given the choice between two pieces of software that do the same thing but under different licences, I would choose GPL and pay the developer under whatever business model he has chosen.  I believe most people would do the same.

 

Regards,

Dave Barrett
MCSA
Office: 01962 658999

Mobile: 07799 411974

http://www.cedit.biz

http://www.outlookrulesmanager.com - sorting your inbox so you don't have to
http://www.registrationvalidator.com - protect your Joomla! site from bots and spammers

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/emeamsgdev - Microsoft Messaging Developer Blog

 

From: joomla-de...@googlegroups.com [mailto:joomla-de...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Sent: 16 September 2011 13:55
To: joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [jgen] Re: JED Listings Caution

 

Troy,

Marius van Rijnsoever

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:15:18 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 8:24 PM, Andrew Eddie <mamb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> People, this is an interesting discussion but I need to remind you this is a development list. The forum and jpeople sites have
> avenues for feedback on Jed policy, etc. Thanks for your understanding.

This is a developers list and I believe it is totally appropriate to
have a discusion here on the JED policy that "developers extension can
only be listed in the JED if they do not have non-GPL extension on
their site". After all this is something that affects many developers
including many of the big joomla extension companies (this JED rule
seems only applied to small start-up developers).

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:15:54 AM9/16/11
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Hi Dave,

If everything in an extension is GPL (including the media) then yes, there can be no such thing as an "illegal copy". But if the CSS, Javascript and/or image files are distributed using a different license, then there can be such a thing as an illegal copy of that extension. Even though the user would be legally allowed to redistribute the PHP code (which is covered by the GPL) he would be forbidden from doing so with the proprietary files. In this case, redistributing the extension without written consent constitutes a violation on the copyright of the proprietary files, therefore the copy is illegal. If he was to remove those proprietary files, or replace them with his own, the copy would not be illegal but -due to the provisions of the GPL- could not bear the original extension's name. This would be a very effective measure against distribution on warez sites. But, as I said, I chose to forfeit that right as I found it would be limiting my users' Freedom. I decided to go with the spirit of the GPL instead of the letter of the GPL.

Anyway, the reason I took offence is that someone implied on a public medium that all commercial extensions (mine included) are in violation of the GPL. I happen to know the provisions, restrictions and requirements of the GPL very well. I also happen to fully embrace the spirit of the GPL (not just the letter of the GPL) and apply it to all of the software I have built. As a result, I had every reason to take offence. Generalisations do cause other people to take offence, ergo they should be avoided on public lists and other public expressions of our opinion. My $0.02.

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com
Attachments:
- smime.p7s

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:42:11 AM9/16/11
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hey nick?  BACK THE HELL OFF....
you entirely misread and misunderstood my statement!
I dont' know wtf crawled up your butt and died but chill the hell out!!!
you wanna try taking me on for slander do it!  But bring a big sack your going to need it.
NOW.. that i've ranted like u have on a PUBLIC list as you so vehemently reminded me..............
my statement WAS...
"
From my very naive perspective as I currently understand it.  EVERY commercial extension is in violation of the GPL.  Especially company's like Yoo and RocketTheme who charge for templates and while you are free to change them, you are not free to resell nor especially give away their products.  Again feel free to correct me. "

NOTICE THE PREFACE!!!  don't take crap out of context!

I've been using joomla just as long if not longer then you have so don't go all high and mighty on me just cause you got a kick arse piece of software.  That crap don't fly.

While you were ranting about something you CLEARLY did not understand I was having a chat in skype with a fellow Joomla person to help clarify my thoughts and understandings.

HERE is what i feel and if you don't like it then you can kiss my shorts!

ANYONE should be able to have a free or commercial extension on JED as long as its OPEN SOURCE.. meaning I can read it, and change it and if my changes are substantial enough market it as my own.
thats it.. just that simple.  If that GPL, NON-GPL ABC, 123 fine... idc..   If they also happen to sell some program, say kayako just to list one on their site also they should have that right to.  its their site not mine.
all the stuff I've ever made for joomla I've always "given" away... do w/e u want with it, its here you can use it or not, change it or not.  I am for the first time, considering making a commercial product but it will still be "open source".  You wanna change it go for it.

Troy
--
Bear / N6REJ

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:44:29 AM9/16/11
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Thank you Dave.
I agree with you 100%
Troy
--
Bear / N6REJ

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:55:30 AM9/16/11
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I apologize to the list for my rant........... I took and take very high
offense to be accused of slander for stating basically "i don't get it,
this makes no sense" . ESPECIALLY by someone who's software I use and
think is tops!
Troy

Jonathan Neubauer

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:03:54 AM9/16/11
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First, get rid of the personal attacks - no one is here to fight, this has been a fairly reasonable discussion - a very important discussion.

"ANYONE should be able to have a free or commercial extension on JED as long as its OPEN SOURCE"

Open Source is not a license - it is a set of principles.
As a business model, and anyone that has developed extensions can tell you this - you can't have "principles" in place of a license, that just never works in real life.
As such, Joomla! has chosen the GPL license as it sees it as the best embodiment of open source principles, to represent Joomla! in a license.

Again, going back to the position that "principles" are not concrete, they are just that, principles.  As such you also cannot have "principles" which can arbitrarily be interpreted as a determiner in extension submission.  Thus, the need for a concrete set of guidelines in place for compliance with those principles in order to be included in the JED.  This is why extensions need to be licensed under, and comply with, the GPL license, whether commercial or not.  Not to exclude extensions, but to ensure that all extensions are following those open source principles we strive to uphold.

Now, to get back to the point of this thread - the problem that prompted this thread was an obscure term (debatable if it is even actually part of the TOS), that has been selectively, or preferentially applied to submissions, by a team that has been anything but responsive.

I'd agree with Troy that the JED has no business dictating what else a developer does on his site besides the immediate affects on the extension that is listed in the JED.  And that is what we need to focus on. If this is in fact a guideline/requirement then first, I think it needs to be reconsidered - then if it is decided that it in fact is a requirement that needs to stay, then it needs to be fairly applied to everyone.

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:06:06 AM9/16/11
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Troy,

FWIW, the definition of slander, from the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation):
Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).[1]
So, let's see how I understood this matter. Your post did make a claim, expressly stated to be factual (had it been question, I would have taken no offence, really). It does give a whole group a negative image. It is false, of course. The publication is communicated to everyone (public list). Isn't that the definition of slander? I know that English is a second language to me, but I was under the impression that I understood very well this definition. If I'm wrong, mea culpa and I'm very sorry.

Basically, as I see it, you made a generalisations which implied that all developers offering commercial extensions are massively breaking the law (violation of the GPL = breaking the copyright law, which is a serious matter). Being one of them, I think I had every right to feel offended. If it was a question, I failed to understand that it was a question, mostly because it was phrased as an assertion.

I apologise if I offended you somehow by taking offence to a very serious allegation regarding the lawfulness of all Joomla! extension developers offering commercial extensions (which includes me). But I'd really like an apology for the kind of language you used in your reply. I never called you names or used that kind of language against you.

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:08:02 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
On 9/16/2011 9:06 AM, Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos wrote:
> Your post did make a claim, expressly stated to be factual
there in lies the rub. I very clearly stated it was my understanding
and welcomed, infact encouraged, to be corrected.

elin

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:10:36 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
No  the rule is every Joomla extension complies with the license not that every product that they sell does. I see where you are getting confused. Note the word extensions. 

However, the JED team is not a development team and they have their own places where they listen to and respond to the concerns of both developers with listing and the users who use extensions. If we want to talk about development and JED we could raise the more list relevant discussion of whether only true Joomla extensions that use the API and design patterns should be there for example. 

The JED t is no App Store that says you must do things the Joomla way and strictly on the Joomla platform to be included nor do they say that you have to meet design standards or almost anything else. They will unpublish you if you don't respond on vulnerabilities but they trust you coming in that you have been smart and careful in your development.  As far as I can tell, developers in the JED have a much more responsive and happy situation than developers  of iPhone Apps and the App Store is obviously working with a full time staff.

In fact to protect developers they won't post links to places that have totally legal downloads of extensions and have a well developed forking rule that was written with massive input from the developer community.


So while I understand that you wish to have your products listed in the JED ... the JED is no different than any other place and in fact much more responsive to developers than most.  Think about just complying with the norms of the community and the well known interpretation of the license. 

If you don't want to comply that is a strategic decision you have made to go your own way. If you think that is best for your business (and I'm not going to comment on the legal risks of violating the license, which is totally a separate thing) then you should do it.  It's your choice, you're an adult and a business person who can weigh the costs and benefits.

Elin



Gary Glass

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:10:43 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com

Agreed.

 

And in addition I would say that it is a serious concern that the JED team is not responsive in a reasonably timely manner. If the JED service is not well-maintained it could be a real impediment to Joomla’s success.

 

______________________________

Gary Glass

http://ShutterGlass.com

http://OnlyBegotten.com

 

From: joomla-de...@googlegroups.com [mailto:joomla-de...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jonathan Neubauer
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 10:04 AM
To: joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [jgen] Re: JED Listings Caution

 

First, get rid of the personal attacks - no one is here to fight, this has been a fairly reasonable discussion - a very important discussion.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Joomla! General Development" group.

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:13:07 AM9/16/11
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In that case, I apologise. I understood your post as an assertion, not a question.

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com

Alfred Vink

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:13:40 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com

What are we…12 ?

Guys, grow up, respect eachother and get back to the issue at hand.

 

Alfred

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:15:33 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
I thought that offering an honest apology (twice, nonetheless) was a sign of respect, not immaturity?

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com
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Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:17:06 AM9/16/11
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On 9/16/2011 9:13 AM, Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos wrote:
> In that case, I apologise. I understood your post as an assertion, not
> a question.
accepted. I have a great deal of respect for your code and abilities
nick. We've talked privately before. I've been talking to others (
still am ) trying to get this through my thick head :P
like others have said, lets get back on track.

Marius van Rijnsoever

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:23:10 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 10:10 PM, elin <elin....@gmail.com> wrote:
> No  the rule is every Joomla extension complies with the license not that
> every product that they sell does. I see where you are getting confused.
> Note the word extensions.

Would you be able to relay this to the JED team? This whole confusion
started when the developer of hikashop listing was removed and JED
specified the following condition:

[quote from JED member]
"It is the JED's policy not to link to sites that include non-GPL
Joomla extensions. You must remove the non-GPL versions from the
linked site and no mention of them can be on your site."
[/quote]

If this is a simple misunderstanding of the JED rules, then a quick
email to the JED team will get hikashop relisted and we can close this
discussion.

Thanks, Marius

Marius van Rijnsoever

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:27:31 AM9/16/11
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Add from previous email:

Or if this is the correct JED policy as stated by the JED member, this
should be clearly stated in the JED TOS and many other hundreds of
current JED extensions that also violate this policy removed.

All that is asked is that the rules are clarified and that there is an
equal playing field.

Thanks, Marius

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:27:58 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Thanks, Troy! Granted, let's stick to the original topic :)

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com

elin

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:39:35 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
[quote from JED member]
"It is the JED's policy not to link to sites that include non-GPL
Joomla extensions. You must remove the non-GPL versions from the
linked site and no mention of them can be on your site."
[/quote]


That is exactly what I said. This has been in place for many years  (since the JED went GPL only). Some people may not have been paying attention, but it's not a change.  There are not hundreds of violations of this, but if you see some by all means press that report button that is on every listing. The JED team does not go out looking, they respond to reports that come in. 

Again by far the simplest thing for all is to follow the terms of the license for all your extensions which not only get them all listed in the JED but remove you from legal risk.  Even if you don't respect the values of the GPL as a business decision I think most people over the last several years have come to the conclusion that it's smart to be in the JED for all extensions.

Elin

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:48:36 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Hi Elin,

I'm sorry, but did you ever answer these?

If it's a JED policy then why does JoomlaWorks not have to follow it?
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2614470#p2614470

If it's a JED policy then why does the leader of the JED team (who should
know the policy) make an exception for JoomlaWorks but not AcyMailing or
Hikashop?
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2614489#p2614489

If it's a JED policy then why is this not in the Terms of Service?
http://extensions.joomla.org/tos

If it's a JED policy, when and where was it publicly stated as a JED policy?

If it's a JED policy, why won't the JED Team talk about it?

As extension developers we agree to the TOS upon submitting extensions. If
it's a policy put it on the TOS. It's unfair, and just plain wrong, of
the JED Team to go 3 months without responding to someone when that person
has made every effort to be compliant (as is even now changing the pro
version to GPL, which will be available in October) and then to turn
around and give someone else preferential treatment!

Kind regards,
Nick

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:49:52 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Elin,

It is perfectly possible for someone to create a non-GPL Joomla! extension and still remain perfectly legal. All he has to do is not use any of the Joomla! Framework code. This is not even half as hard as it sounds. In this case, Joomla! is including the extensions source files, not the other way around, therefore the extension developer is not legally obliged to use the GPL license for his/her code. During the days of the "GPL wars" there was a decision made, that non-GPL software (while not always illegal) does not fit our community's mentality. That's fine. But this brings up two points:
  1. Since it's not illegal to create non-GPL Joomla! extensions, nobody can state that as a reason for a developer not to have non-GPL extensions on his site. If something is outside the provisions of Joomla!'s GPL license, it is outside of OSM's legal reach and it all comes down to a business choice (one that I wouldn't make for moral reasons, not legal ones)
  2. If having non-GPL Joomla! extensions on your site is forbidden, where can I see that rule written? By listing our extensions in JED we agree to abide by the Terms of Service. As a result, a startup would be based on the contents of the TOS to make an informed decision on the way it is going to proceed. By not making this clause a part of the TOS, JED is doing a disservice to the community. Developers are banned because of an unwritten rule they did not agree upon when they signed up to the JED. This makes the JED team look like a bunch of amateurs. I know they are real pros, despite being volunteers, but consider how someone from the outside sees it.
So, how can the JED violate its own TOS? It's absurd. This rule has either to go in the TOS or not be applied to anyone at all. Having a "hidden rule" which is selectively applied makes zero business sense. And as we all admit, the JED is all about business, both for developers (exposure drives sales) and for the project (ad clicks bring in a lot of revenue).

Cheers,

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com
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Terrance Arthur

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Sep 16, 2011, 11:01:44 AM9/16/11
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The eclectic EASEL - Joomla! Professionals


sorry to the list for my poor research I was quoting from the wrong source previously but this is right from http://extensions.joomla.org/tos


"Any listing can be removed at any time at the discretion of the Joomla! Extensions Directory team without notice."


"Extension listings that infringe upon one or more of the criteria listed above will not be considered for inclusion in the Joomla! Extension Directory. In such cases the Joomla! Extensions Directory team may choose but is not obligated to inform the developer as to the reason for rejection."


This means they can do whatever they want and are not obligated to even explain it to us so get a lawyer or get involved with the JED team the only choices I see for change complaining won't help and it is really getting annoying


without some action this whole discussion is just mental masturbation which does make me feel better but it puts hair on my forehead


I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't hesitate to contact me.


Kind regards,

Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
Always in touch with my clients!
24/7 toll free support (800) 669-0729 or text (904) 385-0043

Follow Me: LinkedIn StumbleUpon Twitter
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Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 11:14:37 AM9/16/11
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I don't think a judge in Maryland will come to the same conclusion. At
the discretion of the JED Team doesn't mean they can unpublish a listing
because they woke up on the wrong side of the bed; the *context* is if
rules are broken it's at the discretion of the JED Team (that's why that
part is in "Additional informations to entries").

Breaking mutual agreements (read TOS) by having hidden rules in some
document somewhere (who knows where?) puts OSM (and Joomla)at risk in
Maryland.

Kind regards,
Nick

> [image: The eclectic EASEL - Joomla! Professionals]
>
>
> sorry to the list for my poor research I was quoting from the wrong source
> previously but this is right from http://extensions.joomla.org/tos
>
>

> "Any listing can be removed at any time *at the discretion of the Joomla!
> Extensions Directory team *without notice."


>
>
> "Extension listings that infringe upon one or more of the criteria listed
> above will not be considered for inclusion in the Joomla! Extension

> Directory. In such cases *the Joomla! Extensions Directory team may choose


> but is not obligated to inform the developer as to the reason for

> rejection*


> ."
>
>
> This means they can do whatever they want and are not obligated to even
> explain it to us so get a lawyer or get involved with the JED team the
> only
> choices I see for change complaining won't help and it is really getting
> annoying
>
>
> without some action this whole discussion is just mental masturbation
> which
> does make me feel better but it puts hair on my forehead
>
>
> I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't hesitate
> to
> contact me.
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
> Always in touch with my clients!
> 24/7 toll free support (800) 669-0729 or text (904) 385-0043

> Follow Me: <http://www.linkedin.com/in/eclecticeasel>
> LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/in/eclecticeasel>
> <http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/terryarthur/>
> StumbleUpon<http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/terryarthur/>
> <http://twitter.com/terryarthur> Twitter <http://twitter.com/terryarthur>


> Contact me: [image: Google Talk] terry...@gmail.com [image:
> Skype]terryarthur [image:
> MSN] terry...@gmail.com [image: Y! messenger] terrancewarthur [image:
> AIM] terry...@gmail.com
>
>

> On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 10:49 AM, Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos <
> niko...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Elin,
>>
>> It is perfectly possible for someone to create a non-GPL Joomla!
>> extension
>> and still remain perfectly legal. All he has to do is not use any of the
>> Joomla! Framework code. This is not even half as hard as it sounds. In
>> this
>> case, Joomla! is including the extensions source files, not the other
>> way
>> around, therefore the extension developer is not legally obliged to use
>> the
>> GPL license for his/her code. During the days of the "GPL wars" there
>> was a
>> decision made, that non-GPL software (while not always illegal) does not
>> fit
>> our community's mentality. That's fine. But this brings up two points:
>>

>> 1. Since it's not illegal to create non-GPL Joomla! extensions,


>> nobody
>> can state that as a reason for a developer not to have non-GPL
>> extensions on
>> his site. If something is outside the provisions of Joomla!'s GPL
>> license,
>> it is outside of OSM's legal reach and it all comes down to a
>> business

>> choice (one that I wouldn't make for *moral* reasons, not legal ones)
>> 2. If having non-GPL Joomla! extensions on your site is forbidden,


>> where can I see that rule written? By listing our extensions in JED
>> we agree
>> to abide by the Terms of Service. As a result, a startup would be
>> based on
>> the contents of the TOS to make an informed decision on the way it is
>> going
>> to proceed. By not making this clause a part of the TOS, JED is doing
>> a
>> disservice to the community. Developers are banned because of an
>> unwritten
>> rule they did not agree upon when they signed up to the JED. This
>> makes the

>> JED team look like a bunch of amateurs. I *know* they are real pros,


>> despite being volunteers, but consider how someone from the outside
>> sees it.
>>
>> So, how can the JED violate its own TOS? It's absurd. This rule has
>> either
>> to go in the TOS or not be applied to anyone at all. Having a "hidden
>> rule"
>> which is selectively applied makes zero business sense. And as we all
>> admit,
>> the JED is all about business, both for developers (exposure drives
>> sales)
>> and for the project (ad clicks bring in a lot of revenue).
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> --

>> *Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos*

elin

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Sep 16, 2011, 11:24:12 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Correct Terry. The terms of service give broad latitude.

Yes Nick D it is possible to have something that runs somehow on a Joomla site that does not use the API in anyway although in that case I would not in any way call it an extension any more than wrapping something in an iframe makes the wrapped thing an extension.  If something can be built a clean room developer, i.e. someone who has never looked at and Joomla code, that's something very different than a Joomla extension. 

Nick S, make no mistake, I think it would certainly be good to write out the expectations more clearly and I bet the JED team would welcome a suggestion for that in the appropriate place, either their S+I forum or the people group.  I think they have tended to focus on other issues like bait and switch or unacknowledged backlinks and similar rather than launching into full investigations of sites. And again, they tend to be reactive to reports and complaints from users rather than proactive in going out and doing audits of sites. Personally, I think most people try to follow the rules, when they have an issue pointed out they quickly fix it, and then it's all taken care of with minimal trouble.  I don't think we want an environment where the JED are acting like some kind of auditing team inspecting random sites and so on. By far the best thing would be to follow the norms and values reflected in the JED policies and the mission, vision and values of the Joomla project.

If you think it worth what it would cost you as a business person to litigate whether ... a newspaper has a right not to publish your letter to the editor or a store has the right not to stock your merchandise or the JED and OSM don't have complete discretion over what to publish in their directory, well that's your business decision. I suggest rather than continuing to post in this manner you go ahead and take a copy of the JED TOS to your lawyer and see what he or she says.  

Elin

Troy

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Sep 16, 2011, 11:26:52 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
On 9/16/2011 7:02 AM, Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos wrote:
Troy,

Read that forum post again. It reads "the copyright to the materials and reviews in the Directory". Basically, it says that OSM can use your component description and all of the reviews you have received as they see fit. It also means that you can not copy the reviews off the JED without asking OSM permission. This was done to deter developers using JED reviews as selling points by copying them verbatim in their own sites. The copyright of the extensions listed is of course not affected.
oh cool.. ty

--
Bear / N6REJ

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 11:37:34 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Hi Elin,

I say this with due respect to you and simply inform you of what's going on.

They don't welcome suggestions. They ignore them (check the dates):
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644962
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644965

And they are not quick in correcting things. They don't even respond.
They just ignore you. It's been 3 months now for the Hikashop issue.

Furthermore, I've offered to help in whatever way I can several times
now...guess what...no reply. It's not because I've been speaking out like
this then, because I wasn't speaking out then. It's just unresponsiveness
on their part. Why? Perhaps they are too busy which is fine. Why not
allow others to help? Ask them that.

And they are the ones Baiting and Switching, not developers, because it's
not in the TOS!

Again, with all respect! :)

Kind regards,
Nick

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
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> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/joomla-dev-general/-/Dc8Vt_aHDgAJ.

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 11:43:19 AM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Hi Elin,

I say this with due respect to you and simply inform you of what's going on.

And they are not quick in correcting things. They don't even respond.
They just ignore you. It's been 3 months now for the Hikashop issue.

Furthermore, I've offered to help in whatever way I can several times
now...guess what...no reply. It's not because I've been speaking out like
this then, because I wasn't speaking out then. It's just unresponsiveness
on their part. Why? Perhaps they are too busy which is fine. Why not
allow others to help? Ask them that.

And they are the ones Baiting and Switching, not developers, because it's
not in the TOS!

Again, with all respect! :)

Kind regards,
Nick

> Correct Terry. The terms of service give broad latitude.

Terrance Arthur

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Sep 16, 2011, 12:10:37 PM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Nick,

I understand your frustration and it seems to be clouding your reason.

You are presupposing that one somehow has a right to be included in the JED and even in Maryland this isn't the case. The JED owns that right and licenses it to the developer through the TOS. If you had exchanged some consideration for the service then you might have a leg to stand on but free doesn't get you too much in the way of rights no matter where you are.


 Since they reserve the right to change the rules at any time without prior notice they can just make things up as they go along and then by making the new rules retroactive easily reverse your judge's opinion


I'm not taking their side but let's be realistic these are legal terms made up by lawyers and the things they do and say are almost never in any way fair or just they just follow the law or their take on it


you must have a forehead of hair by now hope this is making you feel better at least


I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't hesitate to contact me.


Kind regards,

Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
Always in touch with my clients!
24/7 toll free support (800) 669-0729 or text (904) 385-0043

Contact me: Google Talk terry...@gmail.com Skype terryarthur MSN terry...@gmail.com Y! messenger terrancewarthur AIM terry...@gmail.com

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 12:18:37 PM9/16/11
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Hi Terry,

One thing that I am very good at is being reasonable (even in frustration)
:) I don't think my reason has been clouded.

1) I never said anyone has the right to be included in the JED.

2) They can change the rules (read as TOS) whenever they want and as much
as they want, but they can't break agreements (TOS) (by adding some hidden
rules)! The fact is the rules (read TOS) *haven't* been changed. It's the
same same TOS! It's fine if they change the TOS and add that rule, but
that hasn't happened yet.

I don't think it's asking for too much to add the hidden "rule" to the TOS
so that things are clear for anyone.

Kind regards,
Nick

> Contact me: [image: Google Talk] terry...@gmail.com [image:
> Skype]terryarthur [image:
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>

Terrance Arthur

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Sep 16, 2011, 12:53:42 PM9/16/11
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The eclectic EASEL - Joomla! Professionals

 

Hi Nick,


Of course you are correct I am not arguing the validity of your point just the futility of arguing it here.


I was right in the middle of integrating HikaShop into a client's site when it got delisted so I understand first hand what you are complaining about but doing it here isn't helping which was my point not that you are not a great and reasonable guy. Reason is not the same thing as being reasonable. Expending this much energy and time on this in this forum is IMHO a waste of your considerable talents. Isn't it possible to escalate your cogent and well put case to the next layer of OSM management for resolution?


If you though it would help, I'd be happy to write up my own case and the very undesirable reaction my client had when I told them about the problem. They blamed me for using a "bad" extension in the first place even though I spent time on due diligence prior to going with HikaShop.



I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't hesitate to contact me.


Kind regards,

Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
Always in touch with my clients!
24/7 toll free support (800) 669-0729 or text (904) 385-0043

Contact me: Google Talk terry...@gmail.com Skype terryarthur MSN terry...@gmail.com Y! messenger terrancewarthur AIM terry...@gmail.com

JM Simonet

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Sep 16, 2011, 1:20:24 PM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Folks, even if some say that Papy is grumpy again, I will nevertheless ask you to stop this discussion.
This list is targetted at joomla code-related issues and is properly named  JOOMLA_DEV_GENERAL
It is maintain by the Production Leadship Group, not JED, or OSM.
Thanks for your understanding

JM

 Hi Nick,

Of course you are correct I am not arguing the validity of your point just the futility of arguing it here.

I was right in the middle of integrating HikaShop into a client's site when it got delisted so I understand first hand what you are complaining about but doing it here isn't helping which was my point not that you are not a great and reasonable guy. Reason is not the same thing as being reasonable. Expending this much energy and time on this in this forum is IMHO a waste of your considerable talents. Isn't it possible to escalate your cogent and well put case to the next layer of OSM management for resolution?

If you though it would help, I'd be happy to write up my own case and the very undesirable reaction my client had when I told them about the problem. They blamed me for using a "bad" extension in the first place even though I spent time on due diligence prior to going with HikaShop.


I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,
Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer



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Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 1:27:04 PM9/16/11
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Cheers Terry! :) IMO, it's good to discuss it here (I'm not saying only
here but it is good here). As stated previously by others, it's a group
for Joomla developers about developing Joomla extensions. Part of that
process is listing those extensions on the JED. This affects all of us
whether directly or indirectly!

As we've seen from this discussion, there is some uncertainity about the
process and having a discussion like this clarifies things :) This is
certainly not a place for discussion with the JED Team (forum or JPeople
for that), but is it a place for educating ourselves.

As a whole, I would say this topic has been very productive. There was
that one exchange of heated words, but both parties in that effectively
apologized to each other (one more clearly than the other, but hey, it's
all good in the end :)

Hopefully the result from this discussion will be knowledge that will
hopefully transition into the JED forum that will hopefully result in:

1) The TOS being updated and used as the rule book as it should be.
2) JED Team response times will hopefully improve
3) JED Team response times will hopefully improve by allowing those who
want to help (and are apt to help) to help.
4) The TOS will hopefully be applied the same to everyone and not make
exceptions for some developers and not others.

The JED Team is the policing force of the JED and developers who list on
the JED, however as a community we have the responsibility to police the
JED Team (hate to have to say it that way, but it's true)

Kind regards,
Nick

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 1:33:29 PM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Hi JM,

Sorry I disagree and others have as well. The description of the group
states: "This is the main discussion list for software developers working
on the Joomla! platform. If you have questions about how to build
something or want to others about general ideas about Joomla! development,
then please join us."

I think this discussion would fall under the general ideas about Joomla!
development. Part of Joomla development is publishing to the JED.

If the group strictly code-based that should be included in the
description and I'll shut my mouth and go elsewhere.

Kind regards,
Nick

>>> 24/7 toll free support <tel:%28800%29%20669-0729>(800) 669-0729 or
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>>>
>>>
>>
>> > On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 11:43 AM, Nick Savov

>>> <<mailto:ni...@iowawebcompany.com>ni...@iowawebcompany.com>wrote:


>>>
>>>> Hi Elin,
>>>>
>>>> I say this with due respect to you and simply inform you of what's
>>>> going
>>>> on.
>>>>
>>>> They don't welcome suggestions. They ignore them (check the dates):
>>>>

>>>><http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644962>http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644962
>>>>
>>>><http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644965>http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644965

>>>><https://groups.google.com/d/msg/joomla-dev-general/-/Dc8Vt_aHDgAJ>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/joomla-dev-general/-/Dc8Vt_aHDgAJ.


>>>> > To post to this group, send an email to
>>>> >

>>>><mailto:joomla-de...@googlegroups.com>joomla-de...@googlegroups.com.


>> >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>> >

>>>><mailto:joomla-dev-general%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>joomla-dev-gene...@googlegroups.com.


>>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>>> >

>>>><http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general?hl=en-GB>http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general?hl=en-GB.


>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>>
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Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 1:46:30 PM9/16/11
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@JM

Furthermore, there have been other discussions on this group about the
TOS, see:
http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general/browse_thread/thread/b0a4b0059cc265e1/5f4656bb9d4c3ac7?lnk=gst&q=TOS#5f4656bb9d4c3ac7

http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general/browse_thread/thread/78b918a635615bbc/70e7d788cd70dfce?lnk=gst&q=TOS#70e7d788cd70dfce

http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general/browse_thread/thread/1fc841de544264fd/ef38a83648513b9e?lnk=gst&q=TOS#ef38a83648513b9e


I didn't read every reply but it doesn't like anyone in those discussions
were shoo'ed off to discuss elsewhere. Our present discussion has remained
civilized, so IMO and based on other examples whoever wants to discuss,
discuss :)

Kind regards,
Nick

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 1:49:37 PM9/16/11
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Typo:
"doesn't like anyone in those discussions" should be "doesn't look like

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 1:58:56 PM9/16/11
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Sorry to write so much, this is the last one in a row :)

JM, if you're the moderator of this group and that was a command for me to
shut up and go elsewhere, I'll obey and go elsewhere. Sorry I'm not sure
if your statement was just an opinion as a member of this group or if it
was meant to be as something more than that. I'm not trying to break any
rules, sorry if it appears that way. A clarification would be nice :)

Kind regards,
Nick

Rich Friedel

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Sep 16, 2011, 2:02:24 PM9/16/11
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Where else should this discussion take place?

Furthermore, who exactly is in charge? I have been watching this for some time now and the obvious issue is that there is absolutely no clear order of heirarchy and a complete lack of organization.

Frankly, this whole issue makes JED and Joomla! look completely unprofessional and amaturish.

It is sad to see this after going through unrest and bullshit during the move from Mambo to Joomla!

whatever...

On Sep 16, 2011 1:20 PM, "JM Simonet" <infog...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Folks, even if some say that Papy is grumpy again, I will
> nevertheless ask you to stop this discussion.
> This list is targetted at joomla code-related issues and is properly
> named JOOMLA_DEV_GENERAL
> It is maintain by the Production Leadship Group, not JED, or OSM.
> Thanks for your understanding
>
> JM
>
>> Hi Nick,
>>
>>
>>Of course you are correct I am not arguing the validity of your
>>point just the futility of arguing it here.
>>
>>
>>I was right in the middle of integrating HikaShop into a client's
>>site when it got delisted so I understand first hand what you are
>>complaining about but doing it here isn't helping which was my point
>>not that you are not a great and reasonable guy. Reason is not the
>>same thing as being reasonable. Expending this much energy and time
>>on this in this forum is IMHO a waste of your considerable talents.
>>Isn't it possible to escalate your cogent and well put case to the
>>next layer of OSM management for resolution?
>>
>>
>>If you though it would help, I'd be happy to write up my own case
>>and the very undesirable reaction my client had when I told them
>>about the problem. They blamed me for using a "bad" extension in the
>>first place even though I spent time on due diligence prior to going
>>with HikaShop.
>>
>>
>>
>>I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't
>>hesitate to contact me.
>>
>>
>>Kind regards,
>>
>>Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
>>
>>
>>
>>> 24/7 toll free support <tel:%28800%29%20669-0729>(800) 669-0729 or

>>
>> > Contact me: [image: Google Talk]
>><mailto:terry...@gmail.com>terry...@gmail.com [image:
>>> Skype]terryarthur [image:
>>> MSN] <mailto:terry...@gmail.com>terry...@gmail.com [image:
>>>Y! messenger] terrancewarthur [image:
>>> AIM] <mailto:terry...@gmail.com>terry...@gmail.com

>>>
>>>
>>
>> > On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 11:43 AM, Nick Savov

>>>
>>>> Hi Elin,
>>>>
>>>> I say this with due respect to you and simply inform you of what's going
>>>> on.
>>>>
>>>> They don't welcome suggestions. They ignore them (check the dates):
>>>>

>>>> > To post to this group, send an email to
>>>> >

>> >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>> >

>>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>>> >

>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>> Groups
>>>> "Joomla! General Development" group.
>>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>>>

>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>>

>>>> For more options, visit this group at
>>>>

>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
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>>>
>>>
>>
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Keith Mountifield

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Sep 16, 2011, 2:31:38 PM9/16/11
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Hi All,

My penny's worth as a relative newbie to this group...

As far as I can see main issue here is without doubt, the apparent tardiness
of the JED team in the handling of some cases of TOS breaches. I have to
agree that it is important that such a vital portal is not only impartial,
but is SEEN TO BE impartial. The only way for them to achieve this is to
respond in a timely manner to queries and put an effective communication
channel in place for those developers who have fallen foul of the TOS or
other rules.

Perhaps some kind of charter for the JED or at least a commitment to respond
within a certain time frame. It's certainly not acceptable for developers to
be ignored. While the JED team are not responsible for peoples businesses
they should at least respect that the majority of developers are doing it as
a business and do, to some extent rely on their JED listing as a revenue
stream. I would be surprised if any were unwilling to fix issues that the
JED team discovered or had had reported.

For me the discussion about licencing is both informative and pertinent.
I've a number of extensions that I've created for projects that I'm looking
to monetise in some way, so learning more about the licencing issues is
definitely relevant to a developers' list. It's a subject as important as
the great help I've had from the other members of this group with coding
issues.

Cheers

Keith


-----Original Message-----
From: joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:joomla-de...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Troy
Sent: 16 September 2011 13:43
To: joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [jgen] Re: JED Listings Caution

On 9/16/2011 7:30 AM, Rob Stocker wrote:
> No disrespect Andrew but "this is a development list" and we are all
> developers and this is about development and developers. And the other
> avenues have proved completely fruitless for the likes of Nick and
> Hikashop.
>
> We wish to discuss this amongst ourselves, not with the JED group
> (although that is a goal too) or Jpeople.
>
> Rob Stocker


>
>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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> joomla-de...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> joomla-dev-gene...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general?hl=en-GB.

I disagree. we need EVERYONE involved in this. This is a HUGE issue,
literally right @ the core of J! and reminds me very very much of the time
when SMF bridge was forced off JED.

From my very naive perspective as I currently understand it. EVERY
commercial extension is in violation of the GPL. Especially company's like
Yoo and RocketTheme who charge for templates and while you are free to
change them, you are not free to resell nor especially give away their
products. Again feel free to correct me.
I do agree with Andrew in that we need JED and more importantly OSM involved
in this as well. Ultimately I guess its up to OSM to make the decision
about how Joomla is going to handle this as JED is not its own entity afaik.
Troy

--
Bear / N6REJ

--

Jennifer Marriott

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Sep 16, 2011, 6:27:06 PM9/16/11
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The JED policy has not changed.

Also the JED policy of working on TOS issues has not changed.  The JED relies on people to report extensions that are not compliant with the TOS.  The JED relies on people to report GPL violations.  The JED team then assess each and everyone as they can.  There are THOUSANDS of extensions.  New ones are being added every day.  Developers are updating and changing their listings all the time.

Give the JED team a break.  Everyone should make sure they have their facts correct and instead of vilifying the volunteers that work so hard for the project with LITTLE if NONE thankfulness.  It isn't that hard to show a little gratitude and graciousness to each other instead of vitriol and venom.

Two things:

The JED is allowed to make the rules for the JED.  If you don't like the rules for the JED you don't have to participate.  No one forces anyone to participate in the JED.  The JED has consistently asked for community input.  Make use of the opportunity to make suggestions if you feel changes are needed.  

One thing I am going to point out which is GPL 101.  GPL encompasses the four freedoms:
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
to build upon, build out from, learn from and even make huge amounts of money from expanding, improving and extending Joomla.to build upon, build out from, learn from and even make huge amounts of money from expanding, improving and extending Joomla.

GPL does not mean free from charge.  GPL software can be a commercial product.  If I purchased a GPL product because I choose to support the developer and I like their software product does not mean I have to share it with anyone else. I am free to offer any changes I may make back to the developer ( I do this regularly), I am also free to share that software with anyone else if I so choose because I have that right under the four freedoms. I would personally NOT do that as I would hope more people would support the same developer that I have supported and if they like that developer's software I would hope they would support that development.  Encryption is not a violation of the GPL as long as the developer makes the source code available to those HE/SHE has distributed the software to.  He or she only has to distribute that source code to those people and those people alone. He or she is under no obligation to distribute the source code to humanity.

Joomla uses the GPL V2 OR LATER license and the Joomla! trademarks are registered and protected - they are not licensed GPL. 

Developers are free to build upon, build out from, learn from and even make huge amounts of money from expanding, improving and extending Joomla.  Developers are able to use the Joomla trademarks as long as they follow the terms of use as set out by the Joomla project and OSM.  The only thing developers have to do at the same time is adhere to the license that afforded them that freedom to build upon, build out from, learn from and even make huge amounts of money from expanding, improving and extending Joomla, and respect the trademarks.

Hopefully this post helps to clear up a lot of the misconceptions and misinformation that have been presented in this thread.

Terrance Arthur

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Sep 16, 2011, 6:41:40 PM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
The eclectic EASEL - Joomla! Professionals


I had hoped this thread was dead but thanks for clearing things up for us Jennifer


it would have been helpful to point out the misconceptions and misinformation you were referring to instead of essentially rehashing what has already been said here and calling it clearing things up


I look forward to assisting you in any way I can so please don't hesitate to contact me.


Kind regards,

Terry Arthur, Freelance designer & programmer
Always in touch with my clients!

24/7 toll free support (800) 669-0729 or text (904) 385-0043

Contact me: Google Talk terry...@gmail.com Skype terryarthur MSN terry...@gmail.com Y! messenger terrancewarthur AIM terry...@gmail.com


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Marius van Rijnsoever

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Sep 16, 2011, 6:46:26 PM9/16/11
to joomla-de...@googlegroups.com
On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 6:27 AM, Jennifer Marriott
<marpomu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The JED policy has not changed.
> Also the JED policy of working on TOS issues has not changed.  The JED
> relies on people to report extensions that are not compliant with the TOS.
>  The JED relies on people to report GPL violations.  The JED team then
> assess each and everyone as they can.  There are THOUSANDS of extensions.
>  New ones are being added every day.  Developers are updating and changing
> their listings all the time.
> Give the JED team a break.  Everyone should make sure they have their facts
> correct and instead of vilifying the volunteers that work so hard for the
> project with LITTLE if NONE thankfulness.  It isn't that hard to show a
> little gratitude and graciousness to each other instead of vitriol and
> venom.

Jennifer, no one is questioning the hard work of JED volenteers. This
is about an unwritten JED policy, that nobody understands (just look
at this discussion), it not documentent on the JED TOS and that is
applied at random. Nick's simpel question have still gone unanwered if
you want to help clear things up:

If it's a JED policy then why does JoomlaWorks not have to follow it?
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2614470#p2614470

If it's a JED policy then why does the leader of the JED team (who should
know the policy) make an exception for JoomlaWorks but not AcyMailing or
Hikashop?
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2614489#p2614489

If it's a JED policy then why is this not in the Terms of Service?
http://extensions.joomla.org/tos

If it's a JED policy, when and where was it publicly stated as a JED policy?

If it's a JED policy, why won't the JED Team talk about it?

Thanks, Marius

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 7:00:11 PM9/16/11
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Hi Jennifer!

First I'm very thankful for thoughtful reply! :)

Could you please clarify some things for me? By policy do you mean TOS? By
rules do you mean those outlined in the TOS? ACYMailing was unpublished
for a rule that doesn't appear in the TOS. Joomlaworks was not:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2616686#p2616686

The biggest problem here is lack of communication in the TOS and from the
JED Team. All of this could have been avoided a year ago, 3 months ago, 2
months ago, and even 1 month ago. As developers we agree to the JED TOS
when we enter a listing. The TOS is the JED Team's mutual agreement with
us as well. We don't agree to rules we don't know about, aren't notified
about (until after we break them), and which aren't properly documented.
If we're penalized for rules it should be rules that are from the JED TOS.
And if we're penalized we should be penalized fairly and not one person
penalized but another person not penalized.

As to giving praise, I totally agree! I've praised the JED before and I'll
praise them again when and where praise is due:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=637679&p=2561750#p2561750
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=622533&p=2507762#p2507762

but please don't turn this into a "you're not being grateful" thing. As
you said, stick to the facts.

Also, I think giving the JED team 3 months is more than enough of a break.
1 month is also more than enough of a break. Time to do something about
it now so that we're not having these conversations in 6 months or even a
year. Also, I've helped answer questions on the JED forum for some time
now so that should give them a break a well. If they really want a break
they should let others help out and apply others to join the team and help
out.

Kind regards,
Nick

elin

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Sep 16, 2011, 7:33:54 PM9/16/11
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Marius,

If you have a problem with JoomlaWorks please press the report button on their listing and detail it. However, no one from the JED is going to discuss their status with you or in public any more than they would discuss yours or either Nick's or Hikashop. I hope you  appreciate that such a policy protects both you and the project since any public discussion becomes not just potentially embarrassing for the developer being discussed and because, as you see in this thread, this is a community in which there are  a large number in absolute terms (although small in percentage) who continually threaten to sue OSM or the JED team.  Every single post not only lives on in the Google cache forever as an embarrassing reflection of people's poor behavior, it becomes part of the legal record of the case. At this point one really could argue that no one in any official position with the project should be speaking to Nick since it all may be subject to scrutiny by a judge. 

I really hope that instead everyone who has not threatened legal action will use the appropriate channels to make constructive suggestions to the very excellent and responsive JED team.  Again, consider the situation in comparison to iPhone app developers and consider yourselves lucky to have such helpful, flexible and idealistic people who give up their time to promote the products of thousands of developers whose products comply with community standards and promote the values, vision and mission of the Joomla! Project. As quoted earlier in this thread, this is a list about building extensions to Joomla. Yes, once in a while we go off topic, just like once in a while we answer  a user question even while referring them to the forums. But let's try to get back on point.

Elin




Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 7:53:03 PM9/16/11
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Hi Elin,

Sure, I'll keep things in the JED Feedback forum from now on :)
(unless of course people keep bringing up inaccuracies in this discussion
and imply that others or I have done something wrong when we haven't).

As a last note to your suggestion, it should be pointed out that we cannot
report JoomlaWork's extension because in the report button area it states:

[quote]You are reporting a listing, which means that you believe it is
against the JED Terms of Service. Only reports that meet these guidelines
will be reviewed.[/quote]

And:
[quote]Yes, I understand the rules for reporting a listing, and also
understand that if my report does not meet the JED Terms of Service it
will not be reviewed.[/quote]

Since the hidden rule is not in the TOS, I can't report it. BTW, the
first quote (above) also means ACLMailing's report shouldn't have been
reviewed by the JED in the first place, since the rule is not in the TOS.

It's a lose/lose/lose situation.

Lastly, it's been reported and nothing has been done about it:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=655313

Remember that posting in the forum is a form of direct communication :)
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=643758&p=2582810#p2582810

I love you all! :)

Cheers,
Nick

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Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 7:54:42 PM9/16/11
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Err, the "love you all" part was to everyone not just to Elin :D

Marius van Rijnsoever

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:04:41 PM9/16/11
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Hi Elin,

I do not have any problems with Joomlaworks, they are an awesome
company and I will not report them or any other "violators of
unwritten JED policy". It was only highlighted in this discussion as a
JED team member made a call not to apply these unwritten JED laws to
them but does apply them to others.

Again this is not about legal action, putting down the hard work of
the JED or starting a witch hunt on JED listings (like I previously
mentioned hundreds of JED entries violate these unwritten JED rules).

Proper procedure was followed by Nick and others, but this was being
ignored and not addressed for many months. This affects all of us
developers (and that why it is on this joomla developers list). One
clear set of rules and an equal playing field by these being applied
to all developers.

Fixing this is not that hard either:
1: amend the JED TOS to include this new rule and prepare for a wave
of "abuse reports" and see the JED workload triple.
2: do not remove listings for "violations" that are not in the TOS
(my preference as this rule is not enforcable)

This all started when a hardworking joomla developer listings were
removed, for a rule that is not in the TOC and without proper appeal
methods or reasonable response times. Thats just unfair, you can't
take away livelihoods without being transparent and being timely in
responding.

Thanks for your help, Marius

Jennifer Marriott

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:20:05 PM9/16/11
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NIck if you have a problem with a specific extension that is violating the TOS and you see it.  You as a community member can report it.  It will then go into the list of reports to be assessed by the JED team.  That is the way the system works. 

If you see something that is not right in a JED listing.  You have every opportunity to report it.

There is no  application of the rules for this extension and not that extension.  There is a when there is an individual problem that someone sees and reports it, then someone analyzes the report and then acts on it situation.  And we aren't talking about 10, 20, 50 or 100 things to analyze, we talking THOUSANDS.  All of it depends on community interaction.

Every TOS I have ever seen always has a clause that makes it YOUR responsibility as the person agreeing to it, to comply with the TOS and any changes that may come in the future.  I agree that some really big systems send a notification of a TOS change.  J isn't there yet.  It may be what you don't want to hear, but it is the truth.  The system isn't there to automatically notify every single person registered on the JED that the TOS may have changed.  The JED does an excellent job of using every single notification channel available to communicate changes, or ask the community for input.  If you think a better system should be used to notify of changes, more power to you to build it.  I would love to see it. :)

The "you're not being grateful" is not a direct quote.  So let me directly quote myself so it is in context:
 "It isn't that hard to show a little gratitude and graciousness to each other instead of vitriol and venom."

I said that because I saw a whole lot of vitriol and venom and not a whole lot of gratitude and graciousness in this thread.  It was a general statement about the thread.  The proceeding sentence was about THANKING the JED team for doing a job that goes entirely THANKLESS for the most part.

Bottom line, the JED asks for input.  Everyone has the ability to report a listing they think is incorrect in whatever way.  Developers have the ability to take part in the discussions and input and inform themselves of the TOS at their leisure.

Cautioning the entire community with an inflammatory posting title about listings in the JED doesn't do a service to anyone - not developers, not the community members, not the volunteers for the project - no one.

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 8:55:38 PM9/16/11
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Hi Jenifer,

*Sign* You're very good intentioned at least, but very misinformed :)

You really have to read the discussion and get your facts straight before
posting (you asked us to do so). In reply to your comments:

I can't report it:
http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general/msg/41a17d0881d9d426

As stated n-times already, it's not in the TOS!!!!!!!!! I'll stated it
again for clarification, it's not in the the TOS!!!!!! I agree to the TOS.
The JED Team can change the TOS. But the TOS haven't been changed! And
it's still not in the TOS and developers are still being penalized for it
(months). If it is in the TOS, please show me ;)

I'm sorry but the JED Team does not do an excellent job of using every
single notification channel available to communicate changes otherwise we
wouldn't be talking about this for so long without anyone giving me an
accurate answer. The official forum even goes unanswered...guess what
about? About which notifications channels they use (wonderful, huh?):
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644965

Yes, I didn't directly quote you on that. I paraphrased you and quotes can
be used for paraphrasing someone. Sorry if I made it sound like I was
directly quoting you and twisting your words. My apology!

I think sometimes the truth can sound like vitriol and venom, but better
is open rebuke than concealed love (http://bible.cc/proverbs/27-5.htm). I
haven't been cruel to anyone and I don't think I will be cruel in the
future. I'm pretty nice although I would say that it's a lot easier to
realize that in person than in my writing online :) I might be passionate
about this but when others are affected for months and I myself have been
ignored for months at a time, it's hard to not be passionate. This
affects all of us.

As to your last comment, it has certainly done some people a service if
you read this discussion (they said so themselves) so I guess I'll have to
disagree with your last comment as well. BTW, are you doing me a service
by saying these things to me? If so, then how haven't I done a service to
the JED Team or everyone else?

If other people see this discussion and it reflects badly on Joomla, well,
maybe we should wake up and make some corrections so that these things
don't keep happening...


I hope I'm doing you a favor by correcting you, just like you did me a
favor by trying to correct me :)

Kind regards,
Nick

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Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:10:39 PM9/16/11
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BTW, Jenifer (or anyone else), here's a very easy way to settle this.

Where in the TOS does it say that a developer CANNOT have any NON-GPL
Joomla Extension on their OWN personal site?
http://extensions.joomla.org/tos

According to the TOS, if you want to list an extension on the JED that
extension must be GPL. But where in the TOS does it say that if you have
a non-GPL extension on your OWN personal site, then ALL your JED GPL
extensions get unpublished?

If it doesn't state it in the TOS, why are extensions being banned?

Kind regards,
Nick

Chris Burgess

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:34:31 PM9/16/11
to Joomla! General Development
Just thought I'd comment on whether this is an appropriate place for
this discussion. I'm a new developer working through licensing issues
as we speak, and I've found this discussion VERY informative and VERY
worthwhile. It easily falls under the banner of Joomla! General
Development, and if it doesn't occur here, then where else is it going
to happen?

On Sep 17, 11:10 am, "Nick Savov" <n...@iowawebcompany.com> wrote:
> BTW, Jenifer (or anyone else), here's a very easy way to settle this.
>
> Where in the TOS does it say that a developer CANNOT have any NON-GPL
> Joomla Extension on their OWN personal site?http://extensions.joomla.org/tos

Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:39:58 PM9/16/11
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Cheers, Chris! Glad to be of help :)

elin

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:40:25 PM9/16/11
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Marius,

It is not an unwritten rule or a new rule.  As has been stated repeatedly by me, Brian, Jenny and others it has been in effect for several years, but it is not possible for the editors to go back and search every single "pre GPL only policy" listing for violations. It took 6 months simply to clarify which listed extensions were really not GPL and not just sloppily listed as something else, and that is on a form with a drop down menu. Further, upon finding a problem as we all know the JED team works closely with the developer to bring them into compliance.  All you have to do is search around a bit and you'll see this is the same discussion we have had multiple times before, albeit differently motivated.



Nick,

It's in the TOS you just refuse to believe it. It's implied in the general statements about the criteria for inclusion.Further the terms of service and the submission form (with a big "READ THIS FIRST") link here http://docs.joomla.org/JED_Entries_License_Checklist where the very first item specifically discusses the rules about this situation.The TOS is a TOS and it is written in the way that TOS are written and with a detailed FAQ attached. 

 Further as far as I know the report button doesn't have a way of stopping you from pressing it even if you are misinformed or have questionable motivations. 

Finally, what would you do if this was added in a very simplistic and spelled out way to the TOS. Would you change anything in your behavior? Or would you find another JED issue to complain about? What difference does it make? You and others have been told the rule, you know what it means, if it is written on one particular page rather than another would that make you stop going around and finding things to complain about in the JED? Would it make you change the licenses of your extensions? If it is only that, why not just do it anyway? 

I'm still not sure what the point of  "a word of caution" was since the JED team works with any developer who  they find is in violation. Sure, people should read the FAQ and not make the same mistake others have, and sure it is easy enough to resolve, and if what you are saying to people is "mke sure to read the FAQ"  thata's a good thing, but it doesn't really come across as your message. Your message comes across as part of a larger, unstated problem you have with the JED that you are not discussing . 

Elin


Mike Hamanaka

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Sep 16, 2011, 9:45:25 PM9/16/11
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All of the nay-sayers should get together and implement what they want as a team.  That is the Joomla! spirit isn't it?     The JED serves a purpose and if you don't like it, I recommend you build your own approved extensions directory.  In the places where I grew up, there is definitely a few schools of thought.  There is no authority blocking you from listing and unlisting extensions from your own directory.  I'm already obligated to maintain a repo for my customers and I love my freedom of being able to work with JED blackballed devs/extensions if I choose, though they are hard to find and an angry bunch of folks.  For everyone and all entities: marketplace participation is optional but always encouraged, we all like to be part of the JED for obvious reasons, but what business principle compatible with open source will you use to defend a monopoly with 1 set of rulez.  I suppose it is a little confusing that the content of the JED is not for republishing, although the enforceability of copyright is always subject to jurisdiction, when you act strongly in what you believe in, you realize the copyrights are just vehicles of social and community suppression.

Maybe you can be the church sunday school teacher, but also teach evolution for your day job?  Or maybe it's not like that?  I might be wrong.  I hope I am wrong, does anyone know if Open Source Matters is planning on suing anyone for copyright theft?

Cheers to the volunteers for filtering likely a half-million extensions.  I remember riding to the airport after a JDay with an JED person years ago, I asked a question:  Why do you publish bad extensions?   That person's answer was... "Because with the right community involvement it could bring something really amazing back to the community."  I was expecting to hear that the wheels got greased...  

And just so I don't exactly step on any toes here...  I have a dream that at least two more marketplaces emerge.  One that is super pure and free on the most conservative side, managed as a democracy, even tighter ideals then the JED with much needed multi-directional transparency and another that is explicitly abscent of regulations, I have heard of some software for the web that might help with this.  Don't get me wrong, long live the JED, but let's not let any imaginary foes try to limit extensibility from core.  

Mike Hamanaka
Website Production 
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Nick Savov

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Sep 16, 2011, 10:34:35 PM9/16/11
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Hi Elin,

Please quote me the phrase that implies it in the TOS then. Don't just
state it's there. Please quote me the phrase that implies it because
others and I don't see it. What's with all this cryptology?

No, *neither* the TOS nor the add an extension page links to the page you
referenced. One links to:
http://docs.joomla.org/Publishing_to_JED

The other to:
http://docs.joomla.org/Category:JED

The TOS when it links http://docs.joomla.org/Publishing_to_JED (not the
page you mentioned) states it as a FAQ *not* rules. Here's a direct
quote:
"You find additional help in the JED FAQs"

The submission form states "Before publishing your file to JED please
read" (in small letters so I don't know where you're seeing the big
letter). Please be accurate!

NO where are those pages stated as rules yet you keep insisting them to be
rules! The hidden "rule" that you mention is TWO links away from the
rules hidden in a mass of other links! Come on now.

As developers, we're not google and I don't think we should be expected to
spider crawl the whole Joomla docs (and penalized for months for
misdocumentation). Why can't it be stated in the TOS? Why do we have to
play pin the tail on the donkey? Here's another important question, if
it's a "rule" and it's SO obvious, why doesn't the JED Team Leader even
know about the "rule"?
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2322583#p2322583
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2614489#p2614489

How can we as developers be expected to know about it when the leader of
the JED Team doesn't even know about it. Wonderful, so you, Brian, and Jen
(and others) have been around long enough to know it. Great! Wonderful!
What about the new poor saps that agree to be bound by the JED TOS? Oh
wait..it's not in there. How hard is it just to put it in there for
newbies?

Finally, in answer to your finally, if it was added to the TOS I'd be
happy :) I'd congratulate the person (people) who added it. I would go on
my merry way.

Have you seen me complain about other things that you would imply in your
questions that I've been an all-around complainer/jerk? Oh please, do
share a link. Seriously if you're going to have accusatory questions like
that at least have something to back it up. I have a clear conscience
before everyone and before myself and before my God (who knows my heart
better than I do)! So if you have anything, please let me know, and I'll
gladly recant if I'm wrong... but I know of nothing! Therefore, please
don't paint me as a complainer/jerk for trying to correct the wrongs done
by the JED Team (whether unintentionally or intentionally).

There is no bigger issue other than the JED being unresponsive for months,
being close to dialogue and suggestions, and banning people
differentially. How is it wrong of me to expect fairness and accuracy and
to stand behind Hikashop and Acymailing? 3 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and not a lick done about it.

Kind regards,
Nick

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Jennifer Marriott

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Sep 16, 2011, 11:42:37 PM9/16/11
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"Where in the TOS does it say that a developer CANNOT have any NON-GPL
Joomla Extension on their OWN personal site?"


When you say ON do you mean using them on their own site or offering them for download as an extension that they developed that they are distributing?

If you are asking about the latter:

It says specifically here:

C- General Site Usage

  1. All extensions, listings and developer sites must comply with the latest version of the Joomla! license.



Nick Savov

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Sep 17, 2011, 12:22:35 AM9/17/11
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Hi Jennifer,

I'm very thankful for your reply! :) Yes, when I say on, I mean for
download as an extension that they developed that they are distributing.

To break this down,

1) Joomla is licensed as GPL (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html).
2) The GPL doesn't say that a developer can't distribute non-GPL
extensions for download on their own site.
3) Therefore, if a developer were to distribute non-GPL extensions for
download on their own site they, *as well as their site*, would still be
in compliance with the GPL (which is the latest version of the Joomla
license).

Kind regards,
Nick


>
> "Where in the TOS does it say that a developer CANNOT have any NON-GPL
>
> Joomla Extension on their OWN personal site?"
>
>
>
> When you say ON do you mean using them on their own site or offering them
> for download as an extension that they developed that they are
> distributing?
>
> If you are asking about the latter:
>
> It says specifically here:
> C- General Site Usage
>

> 1. All extensions, listings and developer sites must comply with the


> latest version of the Joomla! license.
>
>
>
>

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JM Simonet

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Sep 17, 2011, 12:43:02 AM9/17/11
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Just for the record:
I am no moderator of this list.
I am ordering nothing to anyone and I am known enough around here
that the doubt should not exist on this.
It is indeed a personal opinion.
I am sort of fed up with this kind of thread.
It started in the forum. it should have stayed in the forum.
I guess I will just abstain reading any more of this thread and keep
concentrating on my tasks.
1.7.1 is on its way.

JM

Nick Savov

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Sep 17, 2011, 12:45:20 AM9/17/11
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Cheers JM! And hurray for Joomla 1.7.1! :)

Kind regards,
Nick

Nick Savov

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Sep 17, 2011, 12:59:40 AM9/17/11
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Sorry, I should have also asked, do you see it differently? Do you think
I gave a reasonable and accurate interpretation? More importantly, do you
see how someone who is new could easily interpret it as I did?

Kind regards,
Nick

Jennifer Marriott

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Sep 17, 2011, 2:22:08 AM9/17/11
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 To break it down:

1.  You asked where it was in the TOS.  I showed you.  You changing the subject doesn't change the facts that the TOS is the TOS.

2.  The JED Team makes the TOS for the JED. They have done this over a number of years including getting feedback and input from the community, and continuing to add functionality, ease of use, improvements and other helpful additions to the JED to make it better for the entire community.

3.  No matter how many times you state you have had no response from the JED it doesn't make it true.  That you didn't like the answer you received does not equate to no response, nor does it equate to the JED not addressing their duties.  It just means you don't like the answer you got, you don't like the rules, and you have made it clear you don't want to help the JED in reporting extensions that you think are in violation of the JED TOS. All of that is fully your choice to make, and your right to do.  

4.  It has been explained numerous times in various places in reply to your multiple discussions on this topic that the JED works through the entire community participating, and that the members of the JED do not spend all day every day policing the listings.  They rely on the community to let them know if something isn't right, something needs to be corrected, or if something is in violation of the TOS.

JM is absolutely correct in that this discussion should have stayed on the forum in the 3-4 threads that you have either participated in or started.    

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

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Sep 17, 2011, 2:44:24 AM9/17/11
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Jenny,

I read the TOS again and again over the last two days. At no point do I see anything which could be remotely interpreted as the developer not being allowed to have non-GPL extensions on his site. Doing so does not violate the GPL. I think there is a misconception here. Many of you believe that an extension can't be GPL because Joomla!'s license is GPL. This is correct ONLY if the extension makes use of the Joomla! API. If it doesn't, it needn't be GPL.

And now the million dollar question. Is it possible to make a Joomla! component which does not use the Joomla! API and is therefore not bound by the GPL license? Yes, it is.

What about a framework? You can use an MVC framework of your own or a ready-made one such as Zend, Symphony etc.
Database connection? Use your own database class, duh.
How do you read the information off the configuration.php file? I have working code which analyses the file without loading it, therefore not including it. As a result, reading the info off the configuration.php file doesn't bind you by the GPL.
How do you handle input variables? $_REQUEST and custom filters are your friends (hint: check how other fw do that)
How do you do redirections? Use header() and die(). This is what I was using a long time ago, before I realised there's setRedirect().
How do you load scripts without accessing JDocument? Who said you can't use script tags in your HTML body? IN fact, put the scripts at the end for page loading optimisation reasons. Win!

I could go on with this list forever. For every problem solved by the Joomla! Framework, there is a non-GPL solution. Is it practical? No. Does it help the users? Hell no. But, still, it is possible to have a fully integrated Joomla! extension which does not use the Joomla! API and is therefore not bound by the GPL. Do note that Joomla! loading the extensions files DOES NOT make the extension "infected" by the viral clause of the GPL. Practical example on another field: the Linux kernel is GPL. There are proprietary modules, usually device drivers. The kernel loads the modules. The modules are still not bound by the GPL.

So, assuming a priori that a developer who offers non-GPL Joomla! extensions is in violation of the Joomla! License (GPL v2) is unfounded. In other ways, the JED team makes an assumption which leads it to apply the GPL rule of the TOS. In this case a. they should ask to be presented with full source code to prove that the developer is not breaking the law and b. should not use wording in the takedown notice which makes everyone believe that there is yet another "hidden" rule somewhere. If you take down an extension because you suspect that the other extensions offered on the developer's site are breaking the law by violating Joomla! license, say so. Generalising the rule to "thou shalt not offer non-GPL extensions, or you're going to Joomla! hell" is an impossible stretch for the reasons I explained above.

Cheers,

-- 
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos
Lead Developer, AkeebaBackup.com
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Nick Savov

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Sep 17, 2011, 3:08:43 AM9/17/11
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Woah! Cease-fire! I was trying to be fair and reasonable to/with you and
this is what I get? 4 points of attack?

1) What? When did I change the subject? I was responding to your
statement. That's not a subject change that's a response.

I'm saying that what you pointed out does NOT say that a developer CANNOT
have any NON-GPL Joomla Extension on their OWN personal site. It doesn't
imply that either (if it's correctly read by a normal person...not someone
who has insider knowledge... and especially by a newbie).

What it states is that extensions, listings, and developer's sites have to
comply with the GPL. If the developers have non-GPL extension on their
OWN personal site that AREN'T listed on the JED, it doesn't (according to
that rule) disqualify ALL their GPL extenions, because the GPL doesn't say
they can't do that. I asked for your fair evaluation of that
interpretation, what was wrong with that?

Ok, so in #1 you accuse me of changing the subject but then look what you
do in numbers 2-4.

2) Again, I'll point out that the leader of the JED Team doesn't think
there's such a rule as you think there is:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2322583#p2322583
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2614489#p2614489

Go argue against him. You two disagree ;)

3) What? Here, show me where I've gotten a reply in the following
discussions (check the dates):
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2535338#p2535338
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2516644#p2516644
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644962
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644965

These are just *some* of the ones I found quickly. Others haven't gotten
replies to their issues either.

I've NEVER stated that I've gotten no response ever to any discussion!
Keep things in context. To certain topics I have. To certain topics, I
haven't. So I really don't know what you're going on about. Ad hominem?
I'm not sure, but you're definitely railing on me a bit and taking the
things I've said out of context, don't you think?

And I CLEARLY stated why I would not report Joomlaworks. It's not in the
JED TOS, so I can't check mark that I believe it's in the JED TOS. That
would be dishonest at best. Please don't put the exact opposite in my
mouth. Re-read:
http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-dev-general/msg/41a17d0881d9d426

If you have trouble understand my writing I'm sure you can have someone
else help you out. Marius has been particularly good at understanding and
so have many others. Perhaps you should consult with someone else rather
than attacking me before you get your facts straight.

4)Wonderful! I'm glad it's explained, but practically speaking do is it
so? Do they actually listen or do they ignore?

Let's see...show me where I've gotten a reply:
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=655313
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2535338#p2535338
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?p=2516644#p2516644
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644962
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=644965

Look I understand they are human and can't do everything. That's why I've
offered to help several times before and it's almost always (perhaps
always) resulted in a dead end due to unresponsiveness. Others have
offered to help too. We just get excluded due to lack of response.

I'll add my #5

5) Would you kindly please quit with the untrue attacks against me? At
least I've got some evidence to back up my claims. If you actually go
back and re-read my comments you can see how grossly you've misinterpreted
me and how you're making me out into something I'm not.


Kind regards,
Nick

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Phill Brown

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Sep 17, 2011, 3:35:58 AM9/17/11
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Performing a search in Google for "Joomla extensions terms of service"
brings up this link
http://extensions.joomla.org/tos

When I go to add an extension to a directory the following requirement
is at the bottom of the form
"I have read, understand and agree to abide the JED rules."
Which links to
http://extensions.joomla.org/tos

I would there for believe and accept that this link *is* the Terms of
Service for the extensions directory?
No where does it mention in there that a developer cannot have NON-GPL
extensions on their website in this TOS.

I have no preference for whether the TOS was changed or not however I
can see as an outsider and being a Joomla enthusiast who has listed
extensions in the directory and has followed this topic I can see that
people are given different treatment for abstract rules that are NOT
listed in what seems to be the extensions TOS.

How are new people supposed to know about supposed rules that are not
listed in the Terms of Service above and abstracted somewhere in wiki
documents?
I've been around Joomla since the Mambo days and I had never heard of
this hidden rule until today.

I rarely speak out but to ignore does the Joomla Community an
injustice to the developers that have a hard time being accepted by
the whim of the JED over hard to find abstracted rules. And these are
people that have chosen to use Joomla as their tool and are helping to
shape and drive Joomla into the future.

I can also understand why the discussion has moved here. Where does
one go when the other methods of contact and resolve fail?

Some questions gathered from this include:
Should hidden abstracted rules be a part of the TOS?
If they are not part of the TOS should they even be considered a rule?

To forget this and move on would only cause more heartache to more
people down the track.

All IMHO.

Regards,

Phill Brown
M  04 2481 9754
Bathurst Software Solutions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris Davenport

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Sep 17, 2011, 4:09:19 AM9/17/11
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I think this thread has run on long enough.  Anyone wishing to continue the discussion should take it to http://forum.joomla.org/viewforum.php?f=262 where you are more likely to gain the attention of the CLT and the JED Team anyway.

Thread locked.
Chris Davenport
Joomla Leadership Team - Production Working Group
Joomla Documentation Coordinator
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