Is there anyone here who used both WP business directory plugin and phpLD and has a strong preference for one or the other?
I searched but couldn’t find any comparison of the two and I’d rather not have to switch script mid-way because it is missing something subtle but necessary.
I believe that the WP plugin is closed source while phpLD is completely open source (assuming you have a license), so keep that in mind if you would need to further customize it.
If the plugin Akela is referring to is http://wordpress.org/plugins/business-directory-plugin/
Last I knew all plugins hosted in the WordPress theme/plugin repositories had to be open source and under GNU/GPL http://wordpress.org/plugins/about/
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There are only a few restrictions
Your plugin must be compatible with the GNU General Public License v2, or any later version. We strongly recommend using the same license as WordPress — “GPLv2 or later.”
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Though “premium” upgrade features might be a different story.
I assume that means they are “free” as in price too? Or is there a way to be open source, an add or for wordpress, and also charge for the actual code?
This is one of the reasons I have hesitated to develop code for re-release for wordpress, so interested to know the answer on that.
Hopefully, there is an an answer, but until then I’ll stay away from developing anything except in-house code for wordpress.
Plugins hosed on wordpress.org are free, open source, and can be modified after you download them.
Or is there a way to be open source, an add or for wordpress, and also charge for the actual code?
Yes, those would be premium services or plugins. But in most cases, the code is still essentially open source. I haven’t really seen a case where a developer bothered to encrypt the code using zend or ioncube or something like that.
Ok, because while I’m not an expert, I have seen quite a few encrypted wordpress plugins. It seems to me, and correct me if I’m wrong, that if it is open source and for wordpress there are no legal protections from someone sharing with everyone, and pretty much putting the plugin developer out of business for that plugin (at least with regard to selling the plugin).
Like I said, access to support and updates are what keeps folks coming back if the code is unencrypted.
If you have seen plugins with encrypted code, could you point them out? I’d be interested to see if there actually are some out in the wild.
I’ve seen quite a few “free” plugins lately that use a paid for “service”.