Distribute Ghostery under a free software/open source license

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In order to truly support the best interests of users of the Web, please distribute Ghostery under a free software license (like the GNU General Public License), and clearly state the license on your webpage, Google Chrome extension page, Firefox add-on page, etc., along with a link to the source code.

(To the authors: note that distributing your software under a free software license does not prevent you from maintaining the integrity of the code you distribute through Google's extension store, Firefox's add-on store, etc.; it merely specifies how those who receive the program may redistribute it. If you have any other concerns or questions about free software, I'd be happy to respond to them.)

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Alexei August 28, 2012 19:39

Hi argentpepper,

We are working on an Open Source version of Ghostery tentatively called Ectoplasm.

Think Chrome and Chromium: Ghostery will be Ectoplasm with some extra Evidon-specific stuff. If you like Ghostery, you'll keep using Ghostery. If you like Ghostery, but want to use it in your own project, you'll use Ectoplasm.

In the end, this shouldn't make a difference to most our users, but it should inspire trust, provide a legal foundation for research projects and contribute to browser extension and JavaScript development communities.

We are likely to go with GPLv3 (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/GP...) for the Ectoplasm code base, and a Creative Commons Non-Commerical Attribution Share-Alike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...) for the Ghostery Element Library.

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Eric P. Scott August 24, 2012 06:38

It's going to happen in some form, although not necessarily for the reasons you propose.

I am going to go on record as stating that I am strongly opposed to relicensing Ghostery under the GPL. "It's a Trap!" (I will not debate this here.)

The Open Source Initiative [opensource.org] currently lists 69 approved Open Source Licenses; there are many suitable alternatives to consider. I personally lean toward simplicity (e.g. BSD 3-Clause or University of Illinois/NCSA), unless there's a serious and compelling justification for "tl;dr" blather (e.g. patent retaliation).

Previous discussions:

Is Ghostery open-source ?
https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/...
Aug. 26, 2010

truth,trust,loyaltyand honour?
https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/...
Jun. 29, 2011

Is ghostery open-source now ?
https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/...
Jul. 1, 2011

No licence, no free/open source, not honnest, not for me.
https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/...
Oct. 1, 2011

No GPL ! No clear code to understand !
https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/...
Nov. 29, 2011

How do I determine if Ghostery is causing problems in Chrome?
https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/...
Mar. 15, 2012

How can I add a new tracking code for blocking?
https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/...
May 19, 2012

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What's the status of this idea?

It's going to happen in some form, although not necessarily for the reasons you propose. I am going to go on record as stating that I am strongly opposed to relicensing Ghostery under the GPL. "It's a Trap!" (I will not debate this here.) The Open Source Initiative [opensource.org] currently lists 69 approved Open Source Licenses; there are many suitable alternatives to consider. I personally lean toward simplicity (e.g. BSD 3-Clause or University of Illinois/NCSA), unless there's a serious and compelling justification for "tl;dr" blather (e.g. patent retaliation). Previous discussions: Is Ghostery open-source ? https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/is_ghostery_open_source-1f6x3s Aug. 26, 2010 truth,trust,loyaltyand honour? https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/truth_trust_loyaltyand_honour Jun. 29, 2011 Is ghostery open-source now ? https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/is_ghostery_open_source_now Jul. 1, 2011 No licence, no free/open source, not honnest, not for me. https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/no_licence_no_free_open_source_not_honnest_not_for_me Oct. 1, 2011 No GPL ! No clear code to understand ! https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/no_gpl_no_clear_code_to_understand Nov. 29, 2011 How do I determine if Ghostery is causing problems in Chrome? https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/how_do_i_determine_if_ghostery_is_causing_problems_in_chrome Mar. 15, 2012 How can I add a new tracking code for blocking? https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/how_can_i_add_a_new_tracking_code_for_blocking May 19, 2012

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Alexei August 28, 2012 19:39

Hi argentpepper,

We are working on an Open Source version of Ghostery tentatively called Ectoplasm.

Think Chrome and Chromium: Ghostery will be Ectoplasm with some extra Evidon-specific stuff. If you like Ghostery, you'll keep using Ghostery. If you like Ghostery, but want to use it in your own project, you'll use Ectoplasm.

In the end, this shouldn't make a difference to most our users, but it should inspire trust, provide a legal foundation for research projects and contribute to browser extension and JavaScript development communities.

We are likely to go with GPLv3 (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/GP...) for the Ectoplasm code base, and a Creative Commons Non-Commerical Attribution Share-Alike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...) for the Ghostery Element Library.

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- Eric P. Scott August 28, 2012 20:23
  
  Would you consider refactoring the code so a reference implementation of the core functionality can be released under LGPL instead (or a decent non-Stallmanesque license)? GPLv3 is a deal-breaker.
  
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- Alexei August 28, 2012 20:45
  
  Deal-breaker for? There are major business reasons for going with GPLv3. We don't have a problem with using BSD/Apache for related support projects, but Ghostery is special. Send me an e-mail if you want to continue offline.
  
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- Eric P. Scott August 28, 2012 22:25
  
  Users on this support board have asked for an open source version of Ghostery to facilitate porting to the following browsers specifically:
  
  iCab — www.icab.de — proprietary
  Maxthon — http://www.maxthon.com/ — proprietary
  Midori — http://twotoasts.de/index.php/midori/ — LGPL
  OmniWeb — http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omn... — proprietary
  
  In most cases, Ghostery would have to be translated into a compiled language and linked into the main executable.
  
  GPL code can only be combined with other GPL code. That has a strangulating effect. Many people who had been fervent supporters of GPLv2 refused to embrace GPLv3, and major players in the open source community have taken this to the next level: they've devoted significant resources to eradicating as much GPL code as possible, as quickly as possible (due to the "any later version" clause in GPLv2) — even going so far as to abandon the revered gcc in favor of the less-mature Clang/LLVM. The seemingly invincible Perl was the first casualty; things like Python, Ruby, and Tcl/Tk (all of which are distributed under BSD or BSD-like licenses) took its place.
  
  By choosing the GPL, you'd essentially be forcing everyone who is serious about implementing Ghostery-compatible functionality to rewrite it from scratch. If that's really what you want, fine. Stabilize your APIs and document them; decide if you need to throttle or rate-limit queries to deter abuse, etc. Introduce a certification program so competing workalikes can receive a stamp of approval and be enabled to contribute data to GhostRank (and please don't try to monetize this for software that's going to be given away for free).
  
  Otherwise, this initiative delivers little more than a marketing bullet. If you're only considering making Ghostery open source in name only, we'd be a lot better served if your efforts went into areas the community has identified as essential to growing the installed base, such as improved documentation and language translations.
  
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- Alexei August 28, 2012 22:37
  
  Language translations are planned. Ghostery 4.0.0 for Chrome shipped with all text strings localized (but just into English for now). The framework to support localizations is related to the open source effort (in terms of working towards a better, more modular codebase).
  
  Better documentation is an ongoing effort that will be helped by the upcoming wiki on GitHub.
  
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- argentpepper August 29, 2012 16:48
  
  Hi Alexei,
  
  I am glad to hear that you plan to release the core code under the GNU GPL. I still encourage you to release *all* of your code under a free software license, as it will not harm your business, only help it.
  
  For the Ghostery Element Library (I assume this is the list of blockable third-party elements), I suggest the Open Database License instead of the Creative Commons license.
  
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What's the status of this idea?

Hi argentpepper, We are working on an Open Source version of Ghostery tentatively called Ectoplasm. Think Chrome and Chromium: Ghostery will be Ectoplasm with some extra Evidon-specific stuff. If you like Ghostery, you'll keep using Ghostery. If you like Ghostery, but want to use it in your own project, you'll use Ectoplasm. In the end, this shouldn't make a difference to most our users, but it should inspire trust, provide a legal foundation for research projects and contribute to browser extension and JavaScript development communities. We are likely to go with GPLv3 (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/GPL-3.0) for the Ectoplasm code base, and a Creative Commons Non-Commerical Attribution Share-Alike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) for the Ghostery Element Library.

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joris.willems@kisp.be December 14, 2012 15:16

I want to be sure what my rights are on this piece of software. Using well known licenses (eg gpl) would massively improve this situation.

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Please release Ghostery under a free software license..

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I want to be sure what my rights are on this piece of software. Using well known licenses (eg gpl) would massively improve this situation. This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled <a class='notranslate' href="http://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/please_release_ghostery_under_a_free_software_license/changes" target="_blank">Please release Ghostery under a free software license.</a>.

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Distribute Ghostery under a free software/open source license

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