Posted by stevesmename on August 27, 2015 at 6:12am
I intend to use Drupal and build a SaaS type product, exposing a private API accessible by an API "key" (like oAuth). The paying customer would be subscribing to the service powered by the Drupal platform. The customer would connect their software over a RESTful connection to the Drupal SaaS product and trigger an event. Would this type of product require that I distribute code if a paying customer asked?
I've been told "yes" a few times. If it is the case then I find it odd since modules like oAuth, Mailchimp, Commerce License, and others are doing this in a similar way.
Comments
You can safely do this
This has been answered before.
But again:
As you point out, there already exists a number of Drupal bridge modules that makes use of the SaaS business model. In addition to those you list, there is Mollom - owned by Dries Buytaert (President of the Drupal Association, etc.).
AFAIK, it has never been disputed that this business model is fully compliant with the GPLv2+ license that Drupal uses, and that this does not require you distribute code of the server-side part of the service to anyone.
(There exists a GPL-variation, Affero GPL that requires you to distribute server-side code, but this license is not used for Drupal.)
Please note that the Project page template suggests that for modules that depend on an SaaS to be fully functional, this external dependency should be disclosed on the project page, with a link to the external service.
Thanks for referencing the
Thanks for referencing the prior answer, my searches were useless because words like "license" just brought me to the general Drupal license pages.
I guess I kept thinking - Is Mollom software running on Drupal? Like Mailchimp, the SaaS is most likely not running on Drupal. The only hard example I have is maybe the oAuth modules but that has different use cases then what we're discussing.
It does not matter what the server-side software is
You're allowed to use code under GPL (e.g. to provide SaaS) without having to distribute the source code.
The source code distribution requirement of the GPL is "triggered" by distribution, not by use. As long as you don't distribute your server-side code, there is obligation to provide the source code for it.
I don't know what Mollom runs on, but even it was a Drupal-based program (and therefore under GPLv2, as is required for all derivative works of Drupal), there is no obligation to distribute the source as long as the server-side code is kept "in-house".
I hope this clears things up.
Thanks! I appreciate the
Thanks! I appreciate the responses.
As one of the engineers
As one of the engineers behind Mollom I can disclose a couple of things. Mollom is an API built on Java and and in-house built. There is no Drupal code in there (as it wouldn't really work, since Drupal is PHP) but even if there was gisle is right in the sense that we would not be enforced to distribute the source. The Drupal module that many site use to connect to the Mollom API is fully compliant with the GPLv2 license Drupal uses.
The Java code is also, by choice, not open. One of the many reasons our server-side service is running closed source software is that we do not want to facilitate people that are trying to get around the anti-spam algorithms.
I hope that can add some clarity to the confusion that is out there regarding licensing and saas products?
Thanks Nick for the insight
Thanks Nick for the insight on Mollom, I've always assumed this was Molloms' structure but you've provided clarity. Thanks again.