nextcloud / nextcloud/server

⚖️ AGPLv3 exception for Plugins 🚀

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0. Needs triage developer experience enhancement
Dominant language
PHP
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Description

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Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
AGPLv3 doesn't really make selling self-developed plugins an option.
This may prevent some developers from creating plugins that could make Nextcloud interesting to even more users.

Describe the solution you'd like
The Shopware project has found a solution to improve this situation while maintaining AGPLv3

We want to give developers the freedom to create plugins for diverse business models without license requirements. For this reason, we allow an exception to the license terms of AGPLv3 for self-written plugins. These plugins have separate license terms – even when the plugin is derived from the class "Shopware_Components_Plugin_Bootstrap" – and do not have to be approved as open source software. For this purpose, the AGPLv3 license text contains the following add-on: Additional permission under AGPLv3, Sec. 7 If you modify this Program, or any covered work, by combining it with Plugins entirely written by you, the licensors of this Program grant you additional permission to convey those Plugins under terms of your choice, provided that those terms do not place additional restrictions on the Program.

Source, section "Plugins"

Can the Nextcloud project also include such an exception in the license conditions?

Describe alternatives you've considered
none

Additional context
A previous discussion of this issue

Solution: ...You can not prohibit that someone sells your work the same way you sell it....

https://help.nextcloud.com/t/noob-question-about-app-licensing/78408

Actual license exception:

Additional permission under AGPLv3, Sec. 7:
If you modify this Program, or any covered work, by combining it
with Plugins entirely written by you, the licensors of this Program
grant you additional permission to convey those Plugins under terms
of your choice, provided that those terms do not place additional
restrictions on the Program.

Source: license.txt

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No Nextcloud file or test is named. Start by reviewing the linked Shopware license.txt exception and the prior licensing discussion, then seek a project decision on whether an AGPLv3 plugin exception is acceptable. Done means the licensing position is documented and any approved license-term change is completed.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
backend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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