Add notes about VNPL in English
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Vitaliy Filippov
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@@ -10,8 +10,17 @@ Copyright (c) Vitaliy Filippov (vitalif [at] yourcmc.ru), 2019+
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Join Vitastor Telegram Chat: https://t.me/vitastor
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All server-side code (OSD, Monitor and so on) is licensed under the terms of
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Vitastor Network Public License 1.1 (VNPL 1.1), a copyleft license based on
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License: VNPL 1.1 for server-side code and dual VNPL 1.1 + GPL 2.0+ for client tools.
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Server-side code is licensed only under the terms of VNPL.
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Client libraries (cluster_client and so on) are dual-licensed under the same
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VNPL 1.1 and also GNU GPL 2.0 or later to allow for compatibility with GPLed
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software like QEMU and fio.
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## VNPL
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Vitastor Network Public License 1.1 (VNPL 1.1) is a copyleft license based on
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GNU GPLv3.0 with the additional "Network Interaction" clause which requires
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opensourcing all programs directly or indirectly interacting with Vitastor
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through a computer network and expressly designed to be used in conjunction
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@@ -20,18 +29,83 @@ the terms of the same license, but also under the terms of any GPL-Compatible
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Free Software License, as listed by the Free Software Foundation.
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This is a stricter copyleft license than the Affero GPL.
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Please note that VNPL doesn't require you to open the code of proprietary
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software running inside a VM if it's not specially designed to be used with
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Vitastor.
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The idea of VNPL is, in addition to modules linked to Vitastor code in a single
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binary file, to extend copyleft action to micro-service modules only interacting
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with it over the network.
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Basically, you can't use the software in a proprietary environment to provide
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its functionality to users without opensourcing all intermediary components
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standing between the user and Vitastor or purchasing a commercial license
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from the author 😀.
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Client libraries (cluster_client and so on) are dual-licensed under the same
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VNPL 1.1 and also GNU GPL 2.0 or later to allow for compatibility with GPLed
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software like QEMU and fio.
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At the same time, VNPL doesn't impose any restrictions on software *not specially designed*
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to be used with Vitastor, for example, on Windows running inside a VM with a Vitastor disk.
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You can find the full text of VNPL-1.1 in the file [VNPL-1.1.txt](../../VNPL-1.1.txt).
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GPL 2.0 is also included in this repository as [GPL-2.0.txt](../../GPL-2.0.txt).
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## Explanation
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Network copyleft is governed by the clause **13. Remote Network Interaction** of VNPL.
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A program is considered to be a "Proxy Program" if it meets both conditions:
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- It is specially designed to be used with Vitastor. Basically, it means that the program
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has any functionality specific to Vitastor and thus "knows" that it works with Vitastor,
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not with something random.
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- It interacts with Vitastor directly or indirectly through any programming interface,
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including API, CLI, network or any wrapper (also considered a Proxy Program itself).
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If, in addition to that:
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- You give any user an apportunity to interact with Vitastor directly or indirectly through
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any computer interface including the network or any number of wrappers (Proxy Programs).
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Then VNPL requires you to publish the code of all above Proxy Programs to all above users
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under the terms of any GPL-compatible license - that is, GPL, LGPL, MIT/BSD or Apache 2,
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because "GPL compatibility" is treated as an ability to legally include licensed code in
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a GPL application.
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So, if you have a "Proxy Program", but it's not open to the user who directly or indirectly
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interacts with Vitastor - you are forbidden to use Vitastor under the terms of VNPL and you
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need a commercial license which doesn't contain open-source requirements.
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## Examples
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- Vitastor Kubernetes CSI driver which creates PersistentVolumes by calling `vitastor-cli create`.
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- Yes, it interacts with Vitastor through vitastor-cli.
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- Yes, it is designed specially for use with Vitastor (it has no sense otherwise).
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- So, CSI driver **definitely IS** a Proxy Program and must be published under the terms of
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a free software license.
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- Windows, installed in a VM with the system disk on Vitastor storage.
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- Yes, it interacts with Vitastor indirectly - it reads and writes data through the block
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device interface, emulated by QEMU.
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- No, it definitely isn't designed specially for use with Vitastor - Windows was created long
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ago before Vitastor and doesn't know anything about it.
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- So, Windows **definitely IS NOT** a Proxy Program and VNPL doesn't require to open it.
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- Cloud control panel which makes requests to Vitastor Kubernetes CSI driver.
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- Yes, it interacts with Vitastor indirectly through the CSI driver, which is a Proxy Program.
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- May or may not be designed specially for use with Vitastor. How to determine exactly?
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Imagine that Vitastor is replaced with any other storage (for example, with a proprietary).
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Do control panel functions change in any way? If they do (for example, if snapshots stop working),
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then the panel contains specific functionality and thus is designed specially for use with Vitastor.
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Otherwise, the panel is universal and isn't designed specially for Vitastor.
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- So, whether you are required to open-source the panel also **depends** on whether it
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contains specific functionality or not.
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## Why?
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Because I believe into the spirit of copyleft (Linux wouldn't became so popular without GPL!)
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and, at the same time, I want to have a way to monetize the product.
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Existing licenses including AGPL are useless for it with an SDS - SDS is a very deeply
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internal software which is almost definitely invisible to the user and thus AGPL doesn't
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require anyone to open the code even if they make a proprietary fork.
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And, in fact, the current situation in the world where GPL is though to only restrict direct
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linking of programs into a single executable file, isn't much correct. Nowadays, programs
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are more often linked with network API calls, not with /usr/bin/ld, and a software product
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may consist of dozens of microservices interacting with each other over the network.
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That's why we need VNPL to keep the license sufficiently copyleft.
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## License Texts
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- VNPL 1.1 in English: [VNPL-1.1.txt](../../VNPL-1.1.txt)
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- VNPL 1.1 in Russian: [VNPL-1.1-RU.txt](../../VNPL-1.1-RU.txt)
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- GPL 2.0: [GPL-2.0.txt](../../GPL-2.0.txt)
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@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ Vitastor Network Public License 1.1, основанная на GNU GPL 3.0 с д
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## Примеры
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- Kubernetes CSI-драйвер Vitastor, создающий PersistentVolume с помощью вызова vitastor-cli create.
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- Kubernetes CSI-драйвер Vitastor, создающий PersistentVolume с помощью вызова `vitastor-cli create`.
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- Да, взаимодействует с Vitastor через vitastor-cli.
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- Да, создавался специально для работы с Vitastor (иначе в чём же ещё его смысл).
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- Значит, CSI-драйвер **точно считается** "прокси-программой" и должен быть открыт под свободной
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