4 ms·

It's open source.

by robocop2018 7y ago

It's open source.

williamstein 7y ago
Their website and marketing of this fact (is it a fact?) is very confusing or misleading. The comparison at https://pdfjs.express/pdfjs-vs-express https://pdfjs.express/pdfjs-vs-express says "PDF.js is an open-source PDF library that was created by Mozilla in 2011 to let you open and render PDFs in web browsers using JavaScript. PDF.js Express is a fully-featured commercial PDF.js viewer with a modern and customizable UI." I would really like to know whether or not "PDF.js Express" is open source. Why? Because I've done a lot of work on react + pdf.js already (for a latex editor), and it's been high on my todo list to add annotation features. So PDF.js express significantly overlaps with something I'm very seriously planning to do...
- williamstein 7y ago
  Evidently I should clarify that by "open source", I mean "released under an OSI approved license" (https://opensource.org/licenses https://opensource.org/licenses). Maybe robocop2018 means "open source" in the sense of "there is possibly minified non-human readable source code that you can look at under a very restrictive non-OSI license"?
  - niknikson 7y ago
    Thank you for your feedback and question. My apologies if it’s unclear. The source code for the UI is available on GitHub [1], but is minified in the download package for efficiency. Note that even though the code is "open source" in that repo, we still have a custom license [2]. [1] https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui [2] https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui/blob/6.2/LICENSE https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui/blob/6.2/LICENSE
    - detaro 7y ago
      So which is it? robocop2018 is claiming it's AGPL/commercial dual-licensed, but you say it just has the custom license and that's the only license in the repo?
      - robocop2018 7y ago
        We are in the process of updating the site. The product will be licensed under dual GPL/commercial terms (re: what it means see bit.ly/2JD0Yj0)
    - juuul 7y ago
      Please don't use the term open source, not even in quotes, if your code is not available under a license that meets the Open Source Definition or the Free Software Definition.
    - mkl 7y ago
      The license reads "WebViewer React UI project/codebase or any derived works is only permitted in solutions with an active commercial PDFTron WebViewer license. For exact licensing terms please refer to your commercial WebViewer license. For use in other scenario, please contact sales@pdftron.com". That is a proprietary source-available license, very much not open source at all.
  - patrickaljord 7y ago
    PDF.js Express is not open source.
    - robocop2018 7y ago
      It is available under dual AGPL/commercial license so indeed it's open source by any definition. We'll clarify this on the site. Thanks for feedback
      - phonon 7y ago
        https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui/search?q=agpl&unscoped_q=agpl https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui/search?q=agpl&unscop... ?
ensignavenger 7y ago
What license is this under? Where can I get the source code? The website says it is open source in one place, and then in other places it says it is a "commercial PDF web viewer that wraps around the PDF.js open-source rendering engine." I didn't see any link to the source code or license anywhere on the site?
- robocop2018 7y ago
  See other messages. The code is available and will be licensed under dual commercial/AGPL terms (similar to bit.ly/2JD0Yj0)
phonon 7y ago
Are you affiliated with PDFTron, the company that created this? Your posting history suggests you are. Please disclose if so.
- niknikson 7y ago
  Yes, I am employed by PDFTron. I've been leading this project since early 2019.
  - phonon 7y ago
    I was asking "robocop2018". Are you him?
    - robocop2018 7y ago
      I am not "him" :) though I work at PDFTron As Nick says the project is open source (https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui). Express is available under under dual AGPL/commercial license ( similar to iText and lot's of other popular OSS )
      - phonon 7y ago
        Where is the AGPL license?
        robocop2018 7y ago
        It's https://opensource.org/licenses/AGPL-3.0 https://opensource.org/licenses/AGPL-3.0 Or summary of what it means bit.ly/2JD0Yj0 If you are talking about info on the site & git, we are working on it. There will be many changes over next few weeks. Stay tuned :)
        phonon 7y ago
        Yes, I'm familiar with the license. The question was about your claim that it was already licensed under it. Apparently it's not, but you're "working on it". Umm, okay.

It's open source.

Their website and marketing of this fact (is it a fact?) is very confusing or misleading. The comparison at https://pdfjs.express/pdfjs-vs-express https://pdfjs.express/pdfjs-vs-express says "PDF.js is an open-source PDF library that was created by Mozilla in 2011 to let you open and render PDFs in web browsers using JavaScript. PDF.js Express is a fully-featured commercial PDF.js viewer with a modern and customizable UI." I would really like to know whether or not "PDF.js Express" is open source. Why? Because I've done a lot of work on react + pdf.js already (for a latex editor), and it's been high on my todo list to add annotation features. So PDF.js express significantly overlaps with something I'm very seriously planning to do...

williamstein 7y ago
Evidently I should clarify that by "open source", I mean "released under an OSI approved license" (https://opensource.org/licenses https://opensource.org/licenses). Maybe robocop2018 means "open source" in the sense of "there is possibly minified non-human readable source code that you can look at under a very restrictive non-OSI license"?
- niknikson 7y ago
  Thank you for your feedback and question. My apologies if it’s unclear. The source code for the UI is available on GitHub [1], but is minified in the download package for efficiency. Note that even though the code is "open source" in that repo, we still have a custom license [2]. [1] https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui [2] https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui/blob/6.2/LICENSE https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui/blob/6.2/LICENSE
  - detaro 7y ago
    So which is it? robocop2018 is claiming it's AGPL/commercial dual-licensed, but you say it just has the custom license and that's the only license in the repo?
    - robocop2018 7y ago
      We are in the process of updating the site. The product will be licensed under dual GPL/commercial terms (re: what it means see bit.ly/2JD0Yj0)
  - juuul 7y ago
    Please don't use the term open source, not even in quotes, if your code is not available under a license that meets the Open Source Definition or the Free Software Definition.
  - mkl 7y ago
    The license reads "WebViewer React UI project/codebase or any derived works is only permitted in solutions with an active commercial PDFTron WebViewer license. For exact licensing terms please refer to your commercial WebViewer license. For use in other scenario, please contact sales@pdftron.com". That is a proprietary source-available license, very much not open source at all.
- patrickaljord 7y ago
  PDF.js Express is not open source.
  - robocop2018 7y ago
    It is available under dual AGPL/commercial license so indeed it's open source by any definition. We'll clarify this on the site. Thanks for feedback
    - phonon 7y ago
      https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui/search?q=agpl&unscoped_q=agpl https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui/search?q=agpl&unscop... ?

ensignavenger 7y ago

What license is this under? Where can I get the source code? The website says it is open source in one place, and then in other places it says it is a "commercial PDF web viewer that wraps around the PDF.js open-source rendering engine." I didn't see any link to the source code or license anywhere on the site?

robocop2018 7y ago
See other messages. The code is available and will be licensed under dual commercial/AGPL terms (similar to bit.ly/2JD0Yj0)

phonon 7y ago

Are you affiliated with PDFTron, the company that created this? Your posting history suggests you are. Please disclose if so.

niknikson 7y ago
Yes, I am employed by PDFTron. I've been leading this project since early 2019.
- phonon 7y ago
  I was asking "robocop2018". Are you him?
  - robocop2018 7y ago
    I am not "him" :) though I work at PDFTron As Nick says the project is open source (https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui https://github.com/PDFTron/webviewer-ui). Express is available under under dual AGPL/commercial license ( similar to iText and lot's of other popular OSS )
    - phonon 7y ago
      Where is the AGPL license?
      - robocop2018 7y ago
        It's https://opensource.org/licenses/AGPL-3.0 https://opensource.org/licenses/AGPL-3.0 Or summary of what it means bit.ly/2JD0Yj0 If you are talking about info on the site & git, we are working on it. There will be many changes over next few weeks. Stay tuned :)
        phonon 7y ago
        Yes, I'm familiar with the license. The question was about your claim that it was already licensed under it. Apparently it's not, but you're "working on it". Umm, okay.