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annotate Sphinx/source/faq/licensing.rst @ 1023:5d4701d8fe28
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| author | Alain Mazy <am@osimis.io> |
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| date | Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:09:48 +0100 |
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| 4 Licensing of the Orthanc ecosystem | |
| 5 ================================== | |
| 6 | |
| 7 .. contents:: | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 Philosophy | |
| 11 ---------- | |
| 12 | |
| 13 The objectives of the Orthanc ecosystem is to share technical | |
| 201 | 14 knowledge about :ref:`DICOM <dicom-guide>`, to build a consistent |
| 15 platform for developing medical imaging software, and to foster | |
| 16 scientific collaborations in medical imaging by subscribing to the | |
| 17 `open-science paradigm | |
| 18 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_science>`__. To this end, Orthanc | |
| 19 is provided as free and open-source software to the benefit of the | |
| 20 worldwide community of medical imaging. | |
| 199 | 21 |
| 22 In order to support this objective of global knowledge sharing, the | |
| 23 Orthanc project enforces reciprocity. If someone finds Orthanc useful | |
| 24 to her academic work or to her business, the community of medical | |
| 25 imaging should gain an advantage from this use by enlarging the | |
| 26 knowledge base. This virtuous circle guarantees the fact that Orthanc | |
| 27 will be developed in a sustainable way in the long-term, to the | |
| 28 benefit of all stakeholders. Predatory behaviors should be prevented, | |
| 201 | 29 while preserving the freedoms of the users of Orthanc, including the |
| 199 | 30 commercial uses. |
| 31 | |
| 32 According to this philosophy, the University Hospital of Liège decided | |
| 201 | 33 to release the Orthanc ecosystem under the `GPLv3+ license |
| 34 <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html>`__ in 2012. The GPL is | |
| 35 a strong copyleft license that is recognized worldwide, and that is | |
| 36 designed to enforce reciprocity. | |
| 199 | 37 |
| 38 As Orthanc is lightweight and designed for Web applications and for | |
| 39 sharing medical images over Internet, it has been quickly deployed on | |
| 40 cloud platforms in order to host large amount of data. Orthanc | |
| 41 considers this use as very legitimate, for instance for scientific | |
| 42 purpose (think of open-data databases) or for societal needs (think of | |
| 43 teleradiology platforms in developing countries). Unfortunately, the | |
| 44 GPL does not protect from predatory commercial behaviors over cloud | |
| 45 platforms because of the so-called "`ASP loophole | |
| 201 | 46 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Affero_General_Public_License>`__", |
| 525 | 47 that does not enforce derived versions of a free and open-source |
| 201 | 48 software running on a server to be given back to the community. |
| 199 | 49 |
| 50 For this reason, the plugins that provide scalability-related or | |
| 51 cloud-related features (for instance the :ref:`PostgreSQL | |
| 201 | 52 <postgresql>` and :ref:`Web viewer <webviewer>` plugins that are |
| 199 | 53 necessary for Web applications distributed at a large scale) were |
| 201 | 54 released under the stronger `AGPLv3+ licence |
| 55 <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-affero-gpl.en.html>`__. | |
| 199 | 56 This license protects the community of medical imaging by ensuring |
| 57 that the features included in Orthanc instances running in remote | |
| 58 servers are publicly available as well. | |
| 59 | |
| 60 | |
| 61 Guidelines | |
| 62 ---------- | |
| 63 | |
| 64 Over the years, it was observed that people fear the use of GPL and | |
| 65 AGPL licenses, that are wrongly considered as preventing commercial | |
| 66 uses. This is most often a wrong assumption, given that the Orthanc | |
| 200 | 67 server is a standalone executable, not a software library. |
| 199 | 68 |
| 69 The following table provides a simple summary of the most common | |
| 523 | 70 situations, and indicates whether the use is **accepted ("Yes"), |
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71 forbidden ("No"), or restricted ("Dual license")**: |
| 199 | 72 |
| 73 +-----------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | |
| 201 | 74 | | Mode of distribution of the third-party system, or of the third-party plugin/script | |
| 199 | 75 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ |
| 201 | 76 | Usage of the Orthanc ecosystem | Permissive | GPLv3 | AGPLv3 | Internal use | Proprietary software | Proprietary cloud | |
| 353 | 77 | | (MIT, BSD, | | | | distributed to clients | platform or Web | |
| 78 | | Apache...) | | | | | portal | | |
| 199 | 79 +=====================================================+===============+=======+========+==============+========================+===================+ |
| 80 | Using Orthanc as such, even if some AGPL-licensed | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |
| 81 | plugin is installed | | | | | | | | |
| 82 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ | |
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83 | Calling Orthanc from a third-party system | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 199 | 84 | (using REST API or DICOM protocol), even if some | | | | | | | |
| 85 | AGPL-licensed plugin is installed | | | | | | | | |
| 86 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ | |
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87 | Creating a :ref:`C/C++ plugin <plugins>`, | | | | | | | |
| 999 | 88 | creating a :ref:`Lua script <lua>`, | | | | | | | |
| 89 | creating a :ref:`Python plugin <python-plugin>`, or | | | | | | | | |
| 90 | creating a :ref:`Java plugin <java-plugin>`. | | | | | | | | |
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91 | 2 possible cases: | | | | | | | |
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92 +----+------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ |
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93 | | Case 1: No AGPL-licensed plugin is in use | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual license | Yes | |
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94 +----+------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ |
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95 | | Case 2: Some AGPL-licensed plugin is in use | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual license | Dual license | |
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96 +----+------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ |
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97 | Using a derived version of the GPL-licensed | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual license | Yes | |
| 525 | 98 | code of Orthanc, or using a derived version of | | | | | | | |
| 202 | 99 | some GPL-licensed plugin, or reusing their original | | | | | | | |
| 100 | code in a third-party system | | | | | | | | |
| 199 | 101 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ |
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102 | Using a derived version of some AGPL-licensed | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual license | Dual license | |
| 202 | 103 | plugin, or reusing its original code in a | | | | | | | |
| 104 | third-party system | | | | | | | | |
| 199 | 105 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ |
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106 | **For viewers**: Using a derived version of the | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual license | Dual license | |
| 524 | 107 | :ref:`Orthanc Web Viewer <webviewer>`, of the | | | | | | | |
| 525 | 108 | :ref:`Osimis Web Viewer <osimis_webviewer>`, of the | | | | | | | |
| 523 | 109 | :ref:`Stone Web Viewer <stone>`, or of the sample | | | | | | | |
| 110 | applications of Stone of Orthanc (AGPL license) | | | | | | | | |
| 199 | 111 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ |
| 112 | |
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113 .. raw:: html |
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114 |
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115 <p align="center"> |
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116 <a href="mailto:info@osimis.io?subject=Request for a dual license"> |
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117 <b>Click here to request a dual license</b> |
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118 </a> |
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119 </p> |
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120 |
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121 |
| 201 | 122 **Notes:** |
| 123 | |
| 124 * The wording "third-party system" is very broad, as it encompasses | |
| 125 many possibilities. It can for instance be a Web application, a | |
| 126 heavyweight desktop application, an automated script, or more | |
| 202 | 127 generally any system that takes advantage of Orthanc as a service in |
| 128 its global architecture. | |
| 201 | 129 |
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130 * If your use case falls in a "**Dual license**" cell, please get in |
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131 touch with `Osimis <https://www.osimis.io/>`__, the commercial |
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132 partner of the Orthanc project that is the only entity entitled to |
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133 grant a `license exception |
| 201 | 134 <https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/selling-exceptions>`__ to your |
| 202 | 135 company for the Orthanc core and its :ref:`associated official |
| 136 plugins <plugins-official>`. | |
| 201 | 137 |
| 138 * If you reuse code from Orthanc or one of its associated plugins, you | |
| 139 must mention the copyright of the Orthanc project. | |
| 199 | 140 |
| 201 | 141 * An Orthanc plugin cannot be licensed under a permissive license |
| 203 | 142 (MIT, BSD, Apache...) because it cannot run independently of the |
| 143 Orthanc SDK, which implies that the plugin and the Orthanc core form | |
| 144 a single combined program, which in turn means that the plugin | |
| 145 should be licensed under GPLv3 by `copyleft | |
| 146 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft>`__ contamination. Check out | |
| 147 the `license compatibility matrix on Wikipedia | |
| 201 | 148 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/License_compatibility#Compatibility_of_FOSS_licenses>`__. |
| 203 | 149 Here is the corresponding entry about this topic in the `GPL FAQ |
| 150 <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLPlugins>`__: *"If | |
| 151 the main program dynamically links plug-ins, and they make function | |
| 152 calls to each other and share data structures, we believe they form | |
| 153 a single combined program, which must be treated as an extension of | |
| 154 both the main program and the plug-ins. [...] If the main program | |
| 155 and the plugins are a single combined program then this means you | |
| 156 must license the plug-in under the GPL or a GPL-compatible free | |
| 157 software license and distribute it with source code in a | |
| 158 GPL-compliant way."* | |
| 201 | 159 |
| 160 * You are kindly invited to cite the `reference paper about Orthanc | |
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161 <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10278-018-0082-y>`__ |
| 201 | 162 in your scientific work. |
| 163 | |
| 202 | 164 * This is our own simplified, technical interpretation of the GPLv3+ |
| 165 and AGPLv3+ in the very specific context of Orthanc. It is not | |
| 166 intended to be a complete guide to copyleft licensing. Please get in | |
| 167 touch with the `Free Software Foundation <https://www.fsf.org/>`__ | |
| 168 for more legal information. | |
| 199 | 169 |
| 170 | |
| 171 .. _cla: | |
| 172 | |
| 173 Contributing to the code of Orthanc | |
| 174 ----------------------------------- | |
| 175 | |
| 202 | 176 Contributed vs. internal code |
| 199 | 177 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| 178 | |
| 202 | 179 It is important to make the distinction between contributed code and |
| 180 internal code: | |
| 199 | 181 |
| 202 | 182 * **Contributed code** refers to source code that takes advantage of |
| 199 | 183 Orthanc and/or that extends Orthanc, such as new :ref:`plugins |
| 184 <plugins>`, :ref:`Lua scripts <lua>`, or any higher-level | |
| 185 application that uses the :ref:`REST API <rest>` of Orthanc. This | |
| 186 code can live outside of the official source repositories of the | |
| 202 | 187 Orthanc ecosystem. External contributors can distribute such |
| 188 contributed code on whatever platform they prefer, in a way that is | |
| 189 fully uncoupled from the Orthanc project, and keep the intellectual | |
| 199 | 190 property of their developments. Such contributors are however kindly |
| 191 invited to index their contributions in the `dedicated repository on | |
| 203 | 192 GitHub <https://github.com/jodogne/OrthancContributed>`__, and |
| 193 contributed plugins should also be indexed in the :ref:`Orthanc Book | |
| 194 <plugins-contributed>`. | |
| 199 | 195 |
| 196 * **Internal code** refers to source code that only makes sense if | |
| 197 embedded within the Orthanc core or within one of the official | |
| 198 plugins. This includes new features and bugfixes. The way to | |
| 199 contribute to the internal code of the Orthanc ecosystem is | |
| 200 described in the sections below. | |
| 201 | |
| 202 | |
| 204 | 203 **Important:** You should always favor the :ref:`creation of a new |
| 204 plugin <creating-plugins>` over modifications to the internal code | |
| 205 (see below)! | |
| 206 | |
| 207 | |
| 199 | 208 |
| 209 Contributor License Agreement | |
| 210 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | |
| 211 | |
| 212 It is necessary for the Orthanc project to make sure that the internal | |
| 213 code of Orthanc can be interfaced with proprietary systems, as those | |
| 214 are still unfortunately everywhere in the healthcare market. This | |
| 215 forces us to require all the intellectual property over the source | |
| 216 code of Orthanc to be centralized, with the University Hospital of | |
| 844 | 217 Liège, the Osimis company and the UCLouvain university acting as the |
| 218 official guardians of the whole Orthanc ecosystem. This centralization | |
| 219 also enables the dual licensing scheme described above, which in turn | |
| 199 | 220 allows Osimis to collect money from the industry in order to fund |
| 221 further free and open-source development of the Orthanc ecosystem to | |
| 222 the benefit of the worldwide community of medical imaging, according | |
| 223 to a virtuous cycle. | |
| 224 | |
| 225 As a consequence, before any code can be accepted into the official | |
| 226 repositories of Orthanc, the individual code contributors must sign a | |
| 227 `Contributor License Agreement (CLA) | |
| 228 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contributor_License_Agreement>`__. Here | |
| 229 is the procedure: | |
| 230 | |
| 231 1. Download the individual CLA (ICLA) form from the `Orthanc homepage | |
| 232 <https://www.orthanc-server.com/resources/2019-02-12-IndividualContributorLicenseAgreementOrthanc.pdf>`__. | |
| 233 | |
| 234 2. Print the document, then write down your signed initials on pages 1 | |
| 235 and 2, and sign page 3. | |
| 236 | |
| 237 3. Return a scanned copy of the document to e-mail ``orthanc-legal@osimis.io``. | |
| 238 | |
| 239 4. Wait for confirmation from the Osimis company. | |
| 240 | |
| 241 **Important:** This form is only valid for individual contributors | |
| 242 acting as physical persons. If your company wishes to become | |
| 202 | 243 contributor as a juridical person, please request a Corporate CLA at |
| 244 the same e-mail address: ``orthanc-legal@osimis.io``. | |
| 199 | 245 |
| 246 | |
| 361 | 247 .. _submitting_code: |
| 248 | |
| 199 | 249 Submitting code |
| 250 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | |
| 251 | |
| 252 Once the CLA onboarding process has succeeded, use `Mercurial | |
| 253 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercurial>`__ to fork the official | |
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254 repository of interest. All the repositories are centralized on our |
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255 `self-hosted Mercurial server <https://orthanc.uclouvain.be/hg/>`__. |
| 199 | 256 |
| 361 | 257 A :ref:`dedicated page <repositories>` explains how to submit |
| 258 :ref:`simple patches <hg-patch>` or :ref:`full branches <hg-bundle>`. | |
| 199 | 259 |
| 260 **Some words of warning:** | |
| 261 | |
| 262 * It is your responsibility to make sure that you have the | |
| 263 intellectual property over all the source code you commit into | |
| 264 Orthanc. | |
| 265 | |
| 266 * In the case of a doubt wrt. a potential contribution, please discuss | |
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267 it on the `Orthanc Users discussion forum |
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268 <https://discourse.orthanc-server.org>`__ |
| 199 | 269 discussion group before starting the actual development. |