An update (Page 2 of 5)

Code that has already been released cannot be un-GPLed.  However, the copyright and license on new code (future releases) is not governed by the GPL unless it is released under those terms.  There is no guarantee that future releases will be released under the GPL.  There are several examples of GPL projects that switched to proprietary models; Active Collab comes to mind.  That is entirely within the rights of the copyright holder.

Service integration and partnerships are different concepts from selling the rights to the code / brand / etc.  phpbb, wordpress, and others, for instance, offer various services and such, but the code / copyright is still owned by the developers.

I like to say Good Luck to all developers for next PunBB release.

I completely agree.  I've been looking at vBulletin because some of my forums and projects are to the point that I'd like to leverage all the professionally built, tested, and supported extensions.   If a sponsorship deal allows for a paid version of punBB that has many tested extensions then I'm all for it.

In general I think we should all withhold judgments until we see a decline in productivity of the team or the viability of the product.  So far things look good and I'm seeing more progress on 1.3 than I've seen before.

Actually, my dictionary and thesaurus says that opinion and judgment are similar.

Can't wait for the release. Nice work fellas.

That makes sense. I always write it as Judgment but thats because I'm invariably using it in the context "The Judgment handed down by Lord Justice etc".

In any case, it was neither a judgment nor an opinion, more of a prediction.

I very much doubt it will be something along those lines. If that was the business plan, well, why waste several month? Why not announce it, or at least the buyout? It seems much more along the lines of using PunBB for their products, maybe refactored, or something like that.

Anyway, at this point, it's pure speculation.

I have been using Punbb for over 3 years on very small to very large websites. Unlikely to the other comments, this is the worst news I have heard so far.

I am very surprised about various points of this agreement. First, I believe you did not make this announcement public because you knew it would cause a huge reaction from the community, which you thought would not be funded. So, we don't know the amount of the transaction and probably never will, we don't know how it was divided between the team, and we learn it weekds (monthes?) later, although I consider this to be a very important news.

Then, sorry guys, but that company wanted to sell support - why the heck do they need the copyright for this? What I understand is you wanted to make money easily, sold the name, and thought if everything turns wrong, you'd fork it. It is pretty clear to me that they _will_ use that copyright to make money out of punbb. You usually don't buy things you don't want to use. And I don't see anything good there.

And finally, I am sick of that "if you don't like it, it's GPL, fork it". Punbb is like many other projects, 20% of the people involved do 80% of the code, and the other 80% 20% of the code. The 80% know the 20% can't maintain a fork, so basically they tell them to fuck off.

So no, I can not be happy with this news, neither the way this was handled, and people who are should seriously think about it again.

Hello Smarty, thanks for your calm answer. The only difference now is that they do not have to respect the GPL - they can turn the licence into a proprietary one, and continue the work to propose premium services without having to release the code; which is likely to happen. If you then start to code the same features, they will probably not be too happy about that, will be interesting to see what happen. Anyway, I still don't see what "good" can come for us, the users.

I hope you already have a good new name in mind, and that you read all the small prints at the end of the contract. I guess you know that for most punbb users the licence and ethic of Punbb are primordial.

Just a small question. If the company wanted to make money of PunBB, could they then force those that already have it to pay or is it just that if you want a new version, you would have to pay?

humm... So, what does this say for 1.3? Since every version before 1.3 will remain free!
I have noticed that punbb is a tight community an I think that people will be worried about what going to happen with the future of punbb. I feel in the beginning that most of the community should of been told of the movement of the selling out to a company. You say that it will be better support and such, but what has ever come out of selling out to a big company. I bet that fool that sold the codes to bill gates for dos is hating him self all the way to the bank.
Most forum script that have started out free and ended up selling out to a big company has lost out on the community support. Granted they have a free version that is very limited in function. IF you want to add this you will have to buy the full version etc...... I think that the support system now with every punbb and punres user is the best i have seen as far as in support for any type of forum script. In simple terms i would of said Guys i need more money for support and to keep things running. People would of step up to the plate to donate and helped out more. I would of even seen punbb it self charge a flat rate for a support or even to use punbb.

This is my 2 cents worth... which doesn't equal much..

Q

I first heard about it back in march of 2007 rumor and such..
I guess we will have to wait and see!

Q