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author Sebastien Jodogne <s.jodogne@gmail.com>
date Tue, 12 Feb 2019 15:23:05 +0100
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9 9
10 Philosophy 10 Philosophy
11 ---------- 11 ----------
12 12
13 The objectives of the Orthanc ecosystem is to share technical 13 The objectives of the Orthanc ecosystem is to share technical
14 knowledge about :ref:`DICOM <dicom-guide>`, and to foster scientific 14 knowledge about :ref:`DICOM <dicom-guide>`, to build a consistent
15 collaborations in medical imaging by subscribing to the `open-science 15 platform for developing medical imaging software, and to foster
16 paradigm <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_science>`__. To this end, 16 scientific collaborations in medical imaging by subscribing to the
17 Orthanc is provided as free and open-source software to the benefit of 17 `open-science paradigm
18 the worldwide community of medical imaging. 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.
19 21
20 In order to support this objective of global knowledge sharing, the 22 In order to support this objective of global knowledge sharing, the
21 Orthanc project enforces reciprocity. If someone finds Orthanc useful 23 Orthanc project enforces reciprocity. If someone finds Orthanc useful
22 to her academic work or to her business, the community of medical 24 to her academic work or to her business, the community of medical
23 imaging should gain an advantage from this use by enlarging the 25 imaging should gain an advantage from this use by enlarging the
24 knowledge base. This virtuous circle guarantees the fact that Orthanc 26 knowledge base. This virtuous circle guarantees the fact that Orthanc
25 will be developed in a sustainable way in the long-term, to the 27 will be developed in a sustainable way in the long-term, to the
26 benefit of all stakeholders. Predatory behaviors should be prevented, 28 benefit of all stakeholders. Predatory behaviors should be prevented,
27 while preserving the freedoms of the users of Orthanc, including for 29 while preserving the freedoms of the users of Orthanc, including the
28 commercial uses. 30 commercial uses.
29 31
30 According to this philosophy, the University Hospital of Liège decided 32 According to this philosophy, the University Hospital of Liège decided
31 to release the Orthanc ecosystem under the `GPL license 33 to release the Orthanc ecosystem under the `GPLv3+ license
32 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License>`__ 34 <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html>`__ in 2012. The GPL is
33 in 2012. The GPL is a strong copyleft license that is recognized 35 a strong copyleft license that is recognized worldwide, and that is
34 worldwide, and that is designed to enforce reciprocity. 36 designed to enforce reciprocity.
35 37
36 As Orthanc is lightweight and designed for Web applications and for 38 As Orthanc is lightweight and designed for Web applications and for
37 sharing medical images over Internet, it has been quickly deployed on 39 sharing medical images over Internet, it has been quickly deployed on
38 cloud platforms in order to host large amount of data. Orthanc 40 cloud platforms in order to host large amount of data. Orthanc
39 considers this use as very legitimate, for instance for scientific 41 considers this use as very legitimate, for instance for scientific
40 purpose (think of open-data databases) or for societal needs (think of 42 purpose (think of open-data databases) or for societal needs (think of
41 teleradiology platforms in developing countries). Unfortunately, the 43 teleradiology platforms in developing countries). Unfortunately, the
42 GPL does not protect from predatory commercial behaviors over cloud 44 GPL does not protect from predatory commercial behaviors over cloud
43 platforms because of the so-called "`ASP loophole 45 platforms because of the so-called "`ASP loophole
44 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_service_provider>`__", that 46 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Affero_General_Public_License>`__",
45 does not enforce modified versions of a free and open-source software 47 that does not enforce modified versions of a free and open-source
46 running on a server to be given back to the community. 48 software running on a server to be given back to the community.
47 49
48 For this reason, the plugins that provide scalability-related or 50 For this reason, the plugins that provide scalability-related or
49 cloud-related features (for instance the :ref:`PostgreSQL 51 cloud-related features (for instance the :ref:`PostgreSQL
50 <postgresql>` and :ref:`Web viewer <postgresql>` plugins that are 52 <postgresql>` and :ref:`Web viewer <webviewer>` plugins that are
51 necessary for Web applications distributed at a large scale) were 53 necessary for Web applications distributed at a large scale) were
52 released under the stronger `AGPL licence 54 released under the stronger `AGPLv3+ licence
53 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Affero_General_Public_License>`__. 55 <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-affero-gpl.en.html>`__.
54 This license protects the community of medical imaging by ensuring 56 This license protects the community of medical imaging by ensuring
55 that the features included in Orthanc instances running in remote 57 that the features included in Orthanc instances running in remote
56 servers are publicly available as well. 58 servers are publicly available as well.
57 59
58 60
67 The following table provides a simple summary of the most common 69 The following table provides a simple summary of the most common
68 situations, and indicates whether the use is accepted ("Yes"), 70 situations, and indicates whether the use is accepted ("Yes"),
69 prevented ("No"), or restricted ("Dual licensing"): 71 prevented ("No"), or restricted ("Dual licensing"):
70 72
71 +-----------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 73 +-----------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
72 | | Mode of distribution of the caller system or of the third-party plugin/script | 74 | | Mode of distribution of the third-party system, or of the third-party plugin/script |
73 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ 75 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+
74 | Usage of the Orthanc ecosystem (callee) | Permissive | GPLv3 | AGPLv3 | Internal use | Proprietary software | Proprietary cloud | 76 | Usage of the Orthanc ecosystem | Permissive | GPLv3 | AGPLv3 | Internal use | Proprietary software | Proprietary cloud |
75 | | (MIT, BSD...) | | | | distributed to clients | platform | 77 | | (MIT, BSD, | | | | distributed to clients | platform |
78 | | Apache2...) | | | | | |
76 +=====================================================+===============+=======+========+==============+========================+===================+ 79 +=====================================================+===============+=======+========+==============+========================+===================+
77 | Using Orthanc as such, even if some AGPL-licensed | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | 80 | Using Orthanc as such, even if some AGPL-licensed | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes |
78 | plugin is installed | | | | | | | 81 | plugin is installed | | | | | | |
79 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ 82 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+
80 | Calling Orthanc from a third-party application | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 83 | Calling Orthanc from a third-party application | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
87 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ 90 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+
88 | Creating an Orthanc plugin or a Lua script, that | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing | 91 | Creating an Orthanc plugin or a Lua script, that | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing |
89 | is hosted by an Orthanc server where some | | | | | | | 92 | is hosted by an Orthanc server where some | | | | | | |
90 | AGPL-licensed plugin is installed | | | | | | | 93 | AGPL-licensed plugin is installed | | | | | | |
91 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ 94 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+
92 | Reusing code from the Orthanc code (GPL) or from | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Yes | 95 | Modifying the Orthanc GPL-licensed code, or the | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Yes |
93 | an official Orthanc plugin that is released under | | | | | | | 96 | code of an official GPL-licensed Orthanc plugin, | | | | | | |
94 | the GPL license | | | | | | | 97 | or reusing such code in another project | | | | | | |
95 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ 98 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+
96 | Reusing code from an Orthanc plugin that licensed | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing | 99 | Modifying the code of an official AGPL-licensed | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing |
97 | under the AGPL license | | | | | | | 100 | Orthanc plugin, or reusing such code in another | | | | | | |
101 | project | | | | | | |
98 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ 102 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+
99 | Using the :ref:`Stone of Orthanc <stone>` library | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing | 103 | Using the :ref:`Stone of Orthanc <stone>` library | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing |
100 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ 104 +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+
101 105
102 If your use case falls in some "**Dual licensing**" cell, please get 106 **Notes:**
103 in touch with `Osimis <http://osimis.io/>`__, the official commercial 107
104 partner of the Orthanc project that is the only entity able to sell a 108 * The wording "third-party system" is very broad, as it encompasses
105 `license exception 109 many possibilities. It can for instance be a Web application, a
106 <https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/selling-exceptions>`__ to your company. 110 heavyweight desktop application, an automated script, or more
107 111 generally any system that uses Orthanc as a service in its global
108 Also, if you are dealing with medical applications in Europe, note 112 architecture.
109 that Osimis sells **CE-approved** versions of a Web viewer plugin. 113
114 * If your use case falls in a "**Dual licensing**" cell, please get
115 in touch with `Osimis <http://osimis.io/>`__, the official
116 commercial partner of the Orthanc project that is the only entity
117 entitled to grant a `license exception
118 <https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/selling-exceptions>`__ to your
119 company.
120
121 * If you reuse code from Orthanc or one of its associated plugins, you
122 must mention the copyright of the Orthanc project.
123
124 * An Orthanc plugin cannot be licensed under a permissive license
125 (MIT, BSD, Apache2...) because it must interface with the Orthanc
126 SDK that is licensed under GPLv3. Check out the `license
127 compatibility matrix on Wikipedia
128 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/License_compatibility#Compatibility_of_FOSS_licenses>`__.
129
130 * If you deal with medical applications in Europe, note that Osimis
131 sells **CE-approved** versions of a Web viewer plugin.
132
133 * You are kindly invited to cite the `reference paper about Orthanc
134 <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10278-018-0082-y>`__
135 in your scientific work.
136
137 * This is our own technical interpretation of the GPLv3+ and AGPLv3+
138 in the very specific context of Orthanc. It is not intended to be a
139 complete guide to copyleft licensing. Please get in touch with the
140 `Free Software Foundation <https://www.fsf.org/>`__ for more legal
141 information.
110 142
111 143
112 .. _cla: 144 .. _cla:
113 145
114 Contributing to the code of Orthanc 146 Contributing to the code of Orthanc