phranque - 8:15 am on Jul 21, 2010 (gmt 0)

despite the apparently absolute statements from the GPL i quoted above, the Frequently Asked Questions about the GNU Licenses [gnu.org] page from FSF's GNU project site is about as clear as mud:

If I distribute GPL'd software for a fee, am I required to also make it available to the public without a charge?:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLRequireAvailabilityToPublic [gnu.org]
(i don't think wORDpRESS is distributed with Thesis, in which case this would only apply to Thesis should it eventually be GPL'ed.)


I am writing a website maintenance system (called a "content management system" by some), or some other application which generates web pages from templates. What license should I use for those templates?:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WMS [gnu.org]

If a program released under the GPL uses plug-ins, what are the requirements for the licenses of a plug-in?:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLAndPlugins [gnu.org]

given the above sections, is Thesis a set of templates or a plug-in?
i would assume a theme is somewhere in between which puts it on the borderline between the two borderline cases mentioned in the FAQ.
i don't know enough about how the thesis theme specifically interacts with wordpress to understand exactly how these apply.


note that the FAQ do not refer to the relevant parts of the actual GPL text.
it's a set of interpretations that read more like "oh, yeah we forgot to include this language in the license, so..."

aka, all source should be freely distributed and when in doubt, you must freely distribute all source.