3 ms·

IANAL, but the new license applies only to new PHP versions, changing it backwards would require approvals. If you don't contribute under new license, you shoul

by samsk 1y ago

IANAL, but the new license applies only to new PHP versions, changing it backwards would require approvals. If you don't contribute under new license, you should be not affected.

zdragnar 1y ago
I believe only the rights holders need to approve of the retroactive changes, and so they really only need Perforce (presumably the rights holder as the current owner of the former Zend Technologies) to agree.
- LawnGnome 1y ago
  Very pedantically, because PHP doesn't require copyright assignment, it would be (almost certainly) impossible to retroactively change the licence on older versions. However, since the PHP and Zend licences both permit the user to use PHP under the terms of whatever licence version was applied to that PHP version or any later version, the point is essentially moot, since a user can choose to use the new version of the PHP/Zend licence once published, which will give them the same rights.
jraph 1y ago
The new license covers and applies to all the code, even code that was written before the change. You can totally change the license of already released code, if the change is compatible with the precious license or if you have permission from all the contributors whose code is still present in significant amount. (However, you can't prevent people from using the released code under the former license)
- sjs382 1y ago
  Previously released versions are still available under the terms under which they were originally released.
  - jraph 1y ago
    Yep, that's my "however". For PHP, the new license will apply to version 9 and later if the proposal is adopted.
    - hnarn 1y ago
      So what do you mean by "you can totally change the license of already released code"? If the license only applies to version 9 and forward, then in any practical sense the license has not been changed for "released code".
      - jraph 1y ago
        I was generic and not talking about PHP specifically. In the case of PHP, this isn't happening, so if you are only concerned with PHP, you can ignore these theoretical considerations (however, because of the "or later" clause of the PHP license, you'll actually be able to use older versions of PHP under the new license). That said, my point was: as the author, if you have previously released software S version V under license L1, nothing prevents you from releasing software S version V again under a new license L2 provided all the contributors of significant portions of software S version 1 agree or L1 happens to allow this additional license (because it's permissive, or because it has a "or later" clause or some other means). Of course, re-release under a new license or not, software S version V can be used under license L1 "forever" and users can choose to ignore the L2 release completely. You cannot remove license L1, you can only offer an additional possibility (using software S version V under the new license, which you didn't allow before the re-release unless the relicensing was allowed by L1). I've not seen this done, but I can imagine this being useful if someone needs specifically software S version V under the new license. Usually, people can just use newer versions under the new license though. I admit my comment was terse (and a further edition probably removed important phrasing), I hope this one makes things clearer.

by samsk 1y ago

IANAL, but the new license applies only to new PHP versions, changing it backwards would require approvals. If you don't contribute under new license, you should be not affected.

zdragnar 1y ago

I believe only the rights holders need to approve of the retroactive changes, and so they really only need Perforce (presumably the rights holder as the current owner of the former Zend Technologies) to agree.

LawnGnome 1y ago
Very pedantically, because PHP doesn't require copyright assignment, it would be (almost certainly) impossible to retroactively change the licence on older versions. However, since the PHP and Zend licences both permit the user to use PHP under the terms of whatever licence version was applied to that PHP version or any later version, the point is essentially moot, since a user can choose to use the new version of the PHP/Zend licence once published, which will give them the same rights.

jraph 1y ago

The new license covers and applies to all the code, even code that was written before the change. You can totally change the license of already released code, if the change is compatible with the precious license or if you have permission from all the contributors whose code is still present in significant amount. (However, you can't prevent people from using the released code under the former license)

sjs382 1y ago
Previously released versions are still available under the terms under which they were originally released.
- jraph 1y ago
  Yep, that's my "however". For PHP, the new license will apply to version 9 and later if the proposal is adopted.
  - hnarn 1y ago
    So what do you mean by "you can totally change the license of already released code"? If the license only applies to version 9 and forward, then in any practical sense the license has not been changed for "released code".
    - jraph 1y ago
      I was generic and not talking about PHP specifically. In the case of PHP, this isn't happening, so if you are only concerned with PHP, you can ignore these theoretical considerations (however, because of the "or later" clause of the PHP license, you'll actually be able to use older versions of PHP under the new license). That said, my point was: as the author, if you have previously released software S version V under license L1, nothing prevents you from releasing software S version V again under a new license L2 provided all the contributors of significant portions of software S version 1 agree or L1 happens to allow this additional license (because it's permissive, or because it has a "or later" clause or some other means). Of course, re-release under a new license or not, software S version V can be used under license L1 "forever" and users can choose to ignore the L2 release completely. You cannot remove license L1, you can only offer an additional possibility (using software S version V under the new license, which you didn't allow before the re-release unless the relicensing was allowed by L1). I've not seen this done, but I can imagine this being useful if someone needs specifically software S version V under the new license. Usually, people can just use newer versions under the new license though. I admit my comment was terse (and a further edition probably removed important phrasing), I hope this one makes things clearer.