I have built a module that uses a 3rd party plugin to parse text called wiki2xml. It is licensed under GPL, and I would like to include it as part of the module package rather than ask users to download it from its source.

The project application page is here: http://drupal.org/node/1110538
And these comments in particular deal with the issue:
http://drupal.org/node/1110538#comment-5007564
http://drupal.org/node/1110538#comment-5022120

I found this plugin through this page: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Wiki2xml
The file itself can be accessed here: http://svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/trunk/parsers/graveyard/wiki2...

I ask the administrators to give me approval to include this file in the Drupal CVS as part of my project "Consensus". I ask this on the grounds that:
- the 3rd party code is no longer maintained (not since 2005).
- I intend to maintain the code and adapt it for this particular module in future.

Thank you

Comments

tommy kaneko’s picture

tommy kaneko commented
Title: Request to include 3rd party plugin in project application » 3rd party code exception for project Consensus?
Component: Licensing » Project problem

Updating issue settings to mirror other 3rd party code exception requests.

killes@www.drop.org’s picture

killes@www.drop.org commented

How inconvenient is it for the user to obtain the single file you are talking about?

tommy kaneko’s picture

tommy kaneko commented

It's not hard to find per se as the user only needs to follow the link http://svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/trunk/parsers/graveyard/wiki2...

Having said that, if you look on the discussion pages of that page (right at the bottom: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_talk:Wiki2xml ), you will see that the link to the file has changed twice in the past. It makes me nervous that it will change again in future. The fact that the link to the file has the word "graveyard" in it doesn't fill me with confidence either.

So to answer your question, right now, the file is easy to find. But in future - who knows!

pillarsdotnet’s picture

pillarsdotnet commented

Here are two possible resolutions for discussion:

  1. Create a Drupal sandbox project to mirror the file in question. State in your documentation that the preferred download location is at wikimedia.org, but provide the sandbox as an alternate, in case the canonical source changes.

  2. Obtain permission to relicense the wiki2xml.php file under GPL, and then rewrite your copy to meet Drupal coding standards.

killes@www.drop.org’s picture

killes@www.drop.org commented
Status: Active » Fixed

I think that in this case where the code is essentially unmaintained by upstream an exception is the right thing to do and hereby granted.

tommy kaneko’s picture

tommy kaneko commented

Obtain permission to relicense the wiki2xml.php file under GPL, and then rewrite your copy to meet Drupal coding standards.

That sounds good with me. I am seeking permission from Magnus Manske, the original author, and I will redraft the file if/when I have his permission to relicense the file under GPL v2.

[EDIT] - permission has now been granted by Magnus Manske.
[EDIT] - wiki2xml.php has been rewritten to *largely* meet Drupal coding standards. That is to say that the formatting now complies with standards. Function names and the like do not conform to Drupal standards, and I would like to keep it that way for now, to maintain the potential for the file to be used outside of the Drupal context.

Thank you for your approval.

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.