Title: GPL limitations
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# GPL limitations

 *  [john@sisler.info](https://wordpress.org/support/users/johnsislerinfo/)
 * (@johnsislerinfo)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/gpl-limitations/)
 * There is a criticism on [Serendipity ](http://www.s9y.org/3.html) that indicates
   that you cannot use WP to make a for-profit site without violating the licensing.
 * I was under the impression that the license protected Automattic from having 
   people use the code base to create a new CMS for resale and that using it with
   plug-ins (like paypal) to manage a site for profit was legitimate.
 * Does anyone understand the GPL enough to help point me in the direction to learn
   more about what can and cannot be done with WP?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  [asechrest](https://wordpress.org/support/users/asechrest/)
 * (@asechrest)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/gpl-limitations/#post-1026220)
 * I’m certainly no expert, but I think Serendipity has it wrong. There are plenty
   of for-profit sites that use WordPress.
 * Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the GPL license also allows repackaging
   and redistributing, but the redistributed version must be issued under GPL as
   well (i.e. free, open source, etc.).
 *  Thread Starter [john@sisler.info](https://wordpress.org/support/users/johnsislerinfo/)
 * (@johnsislerinfo)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/gpl-limitations/#post-1026243)
 * Thanks,
 * I also reached out to Mark Jaquith about this and he replied with a link to the
   [ latest GPL versions FAQ](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html ).
 * Also, he mentioned like you, asechrest, that re-packaging without adhering to
   licensing is more the aim of the GPL.
 * Thanks again,
 *  [Elpie](https://wordpress.org/support/users/elpie/)
 * (@elpie)
 * [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/gpl-limitations/#post-1026284)
 * The GPL is a copyright license that gives everyone the right to use WordPress,
   hack it, modify it, turn it inside out if they want, but if it is then redistributed
   it must be distributed under the terms of the GNU/General Public License.
 * There is no restriction on the types of sites it can be used on, whether for-
   profit or not. There is actually no restriction on selling WordPress either although
   anyone would be nuts to do so since it can be downloaded freely by anyone.
 * If someone wanted to fork WordPress and use it as a base for developing a CMS
   they can do this too – as long as the license is complied with and the resulting
   code is under the same license. (WordPress itself was created from pre-existing
   GPL code).
 * So, in a nutshell, those people on Serendipity don’t know what they are talking
   about!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The topic ‘GPL limitations’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Everything else WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/miscellaneous/)
 * 3 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Elpie](https://wordpress.org/support/users/elpie/)
 * Last activity: [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/gpl-limitations/#post-1026284)
 * Status: not resolved

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