WordPress, Premium WordPress Themes, and the General Public License (GPL)
Oct 13, 2009
Of the millions of WordPress users, I’d bet that less than 20% understand the significance of the General Public License (GPL), especially when it comes to premium WordPress themes (custom themes that you pay for). I say this with confidence because only recently did I get a clue myself. This is an excellent video made from a series of interviews with WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg.
Matt Mullenweg gives an overview of the GPL and how it benefits WordPress, why WordPress is licensed under the GPL, how the GPL fosters innovation, affects themes and plugins, and creates value. Here is a directory of premium theme authors who support the GPL.
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Comments: 2
2 comments
Bob Dunn
Oct 13, 2009
6:40 PM
Thanks for sharing this Mark. I understood a lot about the GPL, but this really clarified some questions I had about commercial themes. I feel it even gave a simpler explanation of GPL that most people could understand.
Am glad to see that “most” of the premium themes I use are on the GPL list ; )
Mark McLaren
Oct 13, 2009
8:20 PM
I appreciate your comments, Bob. Open source and the GPL are at the heart of what makes WordPress and the WordPress community so special. For the most part, I don’t think you find the same kind of innovation and opportunity with proprietary software. It’s well worth educating people about.
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