[tiled-user] Plug-in Licensing Issue

[Matt Hopkins]

Thanks Adam!  That's a huge help.  This makes things a lot easier.

So, here's what I do:

-Write a conversion utility that converts the TMX/TSX files into my
proprietary format by using my closed source engine linked to
tiled-core.jarunder the LGPL.

-Write a GPL'd plug-in which is the same as the normal TMX loader, but after
saving the TMX/TSX file or before loading the proprietary format, it
automatically invokes the conversion utility via Runtime.getRuntime.exec,
and deletes the TMX/TSX files*.  *

So, to an end user, the conversion is completely seamless (as long as the
user has jar file associations set up correctly), but it avoids the GPL by
executing the conversion utility via the command line.  It says that the
command line execution of non-GPL software is allowable here:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation

Thanks for the encouragement.  I'll be sure to put some posts on here, once
it goes public.

--Matt

On 2/7/07, Adam Turk <aturk at biggeruniverse.com> wrote:
>
> You can simply write a TMX loader for your engine that links to
> tiled-core.jar. This jar specifically contains the necessary classes to
> load a TMX map, then you can convert from a Tiled Map object to your
> engine, and save it again. We have allowed this jar to be used under
> LGPL before. Unfortunately the 0.6.x release version does not package
> correctly; however, if you use the version from SVN HEAD, it will work.
>
> I'm excited to see your game, Joseph!
>
> Adam
>
> Matt Hopkins wrote:
> > No problem at all.  Thanks for the quick responses.  I'll either use
> > an intermediate format or manually create files in the format that the
> > automatic persistence within the engine expects rather than using the
> > engine persistence libs + map classes to create the output files.  It
> > isn't quite as elegant and will take a bit more time and maintenance,
> > but it eliminates the license creep.
> >
> > Sorry I'm not as giving with my projects.  Possibly in the future
> > (depending on how things go).  Thanks again for all the work you've
> > contributed to this project!
> >
> > --Matt
> >
> > On 2/6/07, *Bjørn Lindeijer* <bjorn at lindeijer.nl
> > <mailto:bjorn at lindeijer.nl>> wrote:
> >
> >     Hello Matt,
> >
> >     I think what you could do is to dual license the necessary data
> >     classes and reflection functionality, and include it in your plugin
> as
> >     GPL but in your engine under a different license. Would this be a
> >     problem for you?
> >
> >     If we don't require you to license your plugins under GPL, you could
> >     undermine part of the freedom of Tiled users.
> >
> >     Kind regards,
> >     Bjørn
> >
> >     On 2/6/07, Matt Hopkins < matt at nulch.com <mailto:matt at nulch.com>>
> >     wrote:
> >     > Hi,
> >     >
> >     > I've been looking around for a tilemap editor for the engine I'm
> >     working on
> >     > and so far it looks like Tiled is the perfect choice.  It does a
> >     good job of
> >     > keeping the Tilemap and Tileset separate so they can be used
> >     independently,
> >     > which is something I found missing in other editors.  The only
> >     potential
> >     > problem I see is with the GPL.
> >     >
> >     > Currently, my engine is closed source (this may or may not
> >     change as it
> >     > matures).  The problem occurs because my engine handles the
> >     persistence of
> >     > all game data automatically via reflection (including
> >     tilemaps/tilesets), so
> >     > the best way to write the exporter/importer would be to link to
> >     my engine
> >     > jar files, fill my engine's map and tileset objects up with data
> >     from Tiled,
> >     > then use the engine's automatic persistence handler to do the
> actual
> >     > saving/loading.
> >     >
> >     > The problem with this is that it would require me to link my
> >     engine to my
> >     > Tiled plug-in, therefore forcing me to accept the terms of the
> >     GPL within my
> >     > entire engine.
> >     >
> >     > Would it be allowable for me to use Tiled under the terms of the
> >     LGPL
> >     > instead?  As I understand it, that would allow Tiled to link to
> >     other JARs
> >     > (such as my exporter plugin, and indirectly, my engine) without
> >     having to
> >     > make the linked JARS open source.
> >     >
> >     > Thanks for the great work that's been done on Tiled so far and I
> >     look
> >     > forward to future releases!
> >     >
> >     > --Matt
> >     _______________________________________________
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> >     http://rpgdx.net/mailman/listinfo/tiled-user_rpgdx.net
> >
> >
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