[Search-l] Licensing thoughts...

[Jimmy Wales]

What Fred is describing is often known as the "web apps loophole".

One solution is the Affero license, which has been endorsed by the FSF.

I, too, have heard that GPL v.3 has some effect here, but I really do 
not know the current status.

Another way to look at the issue:  GPL, in a web apps context, works 
very similarly to BSD is most software contexts.

Nothing wrong with BSD, but it does lack this "viral" component that I 
think is essential, and since my own personal highest value around my 
dream outcome here is "quality through transparency", I like the Affero 
for what we want to do.

However, I think it is a complex problem and we need to think and 
discuss slowly.