Part Three: Support and Derivative Works
The advantage to a proprietary CMS should be that the vendor offers a greater degree of support to the end user. However, web designers should not shy away from offering support for an open source CMS, especially when that CMS is more versatile, easier to use, and more accessible for the end user. In fact, one of the most appealing aspects of WordPress is the incredible amount of free support and add-ons available. Nonetheless, many consultants and companies make a living offering paid support for open source software such as WordPress. A strong support community creates a positive pressure for web businesses and clients, because it makes it both easier and more important for the consultant to bring new and relevant value to the table. It becomes more evident to everyone that clients are willing to pay much more for service and support than they are for the product, which is free.
Although proprietary software has the advantage of being able to fund its own development through sales, WordPress in particular has been able to reap the best of both worlds in the sense that its code receives funding from the various revenue streams of WordPress.com and still receives the benefits of open source code development with each new version
Because the GPL applies to any derivative works as well, this steady improvement happens in a broader sense, to WordPress themes, plugins, and the community at large. The majority of everything developed for WordPress gets contributed back to the community, so designers are pressured to contribute more value in order to sell premium themes, and developers are pressured to create premium plugins that come with better service and more functionality. As long as everyone respects the fundamentals of the GPL, they stand to profit from using this software.
When we really start to think about how the GPL applies to derivative works, the implications get even more interesting. Here is what WordPress says about themes, plugins, and the GPL:
There is some legal grey area regarding what is considered a derivative work, but we feel strongly that plugins and themes are derivative work and thus inherit the GPL license.
This includes premium themes that are bought on sites like Themeforest, Elegant Themes, or Woo Themes. It also includes the code for premium or subscription based plugins, such as Askimet. Askimet is a perfect example of how the GPL works for business: the plugin is free and open source, but the service and the algorithm are proprietary and cost money to access. If another company came along with better service and a better algorithm, they could theoretically use the GPL code created by Askimet, and compete with them. Thus, the pressure is on Askimet to deliver genuine value to the end user.
Themes, Plugins, and DIY Web Design
Themes and frameworks fall under the GPL too. However, some of the “grey area” applies here. Some components of a premium theme may be released under a separate, proprietary license, and therefore restrict the theme’s redistribution as a whole package. Because there has been some lack of clarity on this issue, WordPress asked the Software Freedom Law Center to pick apart their code, and here’s the answer they came back with:
One sentence summary: PHP in WordPress themes must be GPL, artwork and CSS may be but are not required.
Quite often an entire premium theme is released under the GPL and still sells quite well. However, according to the standard interpretation of the law used by WordPress, the distributor does have the right to restrict the use of CSS and images with a proprietary license. (There would therefore be nothing to stop you from buying a premium theme and reselling it or giving it away with your own images and style sheets). In fact, many designers likely “borrow” php code from other themes and frameworks. This is one reason that the design and versatility of both premium and free WordPress themes steadily improves as time goes on.
But wait – there’s even more! What’s truly fascinating is the fact that the more WordPress grows, the more the user experience of the web becomes a function of the GPL. As it becomes easier to improve the design and the back end of things, the user experience improves, and the Worldwide Web becomes a better, more usable environment in general. Just as each new version of WordPress improves based on all of the code developed for previous versions, each new generation of themes and plugins has a bigger pool of GPL code to build upon, and so many do-it-yourself WordPress sites have becomes virtually indistinguishable from professionally designed sites.
We can see a similar trend happening with Drupal and Joomla sites as well. When the GPL is applied to such a widely used CMS, the truth is revealed about where web designers truly offer value, and where they have managed to create perceived value based on a lack of understanding about simple technical factors. For example, many web designers sell the client on on-site SEO services as a part of the website. Although there are some more advanced on-site SEO features that a web designer can offer, a lot of the time these services involve very simple implementation of meta-tags and free services like Google Webmasters Tools or Google Analytics. WordPress has a lot free plugins and support available to take care of these things for you. The service provider is pressured to be clearer about what value his or her SEO services provide. The same rule applies to web services across the board. There is WordPress theme or plugin available to help you with almost anything you might want to add to a website.
Some sites aren’t meant to have a CMS. It’s software that exists so that end users can publish web content without having to code everything. Regardless of whether you use it though, CMS software helps us to see how the GPL is a powerful instrument for social change. The pressures that the GPL transfers through WordPress, Drupal and Joomla to the web design and development industry are creating more honest and valuable business relationships, and a need for better service and support. CMS software helps us to clearly see the difference between freedom and free beer.
