Creating new themes and the AGPLv3 license

[furlong]

I have looked into creating new themes for SuiteCRM but it seems it is impossible to create new themes that are going to work with the built in AJAX UI without reusing or linking to the existing JavaScript in the theme headers etc.

This means that any new theme would automatically become AGPLv3 correct? And it would have to be given away for free?

The themes for SuiteCRM are very limited and I can only assume that this is one of the main reasons that not many themes have been created for it. The amount of work involved in creating a theme then having to give it away would put anybody off making one.

It also seems to me that this will be stifling the uptake of SuiteCRM since no matter how you look at it, visual eye candy plays a huge role in peoples decision to use a bit of software.

Is there a way to get round this restriction? Could a new theme be released in a two part install where the part that contains the AGPLv3 code is free to download but the rest is paid for?

I also see that there are themes in the store that are costing $199 a year. How can these be forsale and still comply with AGPLv3?

[pgr]

I just realised you also posted something similar on the other thread, so I’ll also double-post my answer here:

@furlong actually there is an architectural problem (inherited from SugarCRM) that currently the Theme code is too tied up with all the UI, it’s not a clean layer you can replace. So anybody doing a Theme, even if the license was better for them commercially, would face a tough uphill battle trying to keep their Theme up to date with SuiteCRM upgrades.

I guess this is part of the reason why “New UI” is on the Roadmap for 8.0… and the new REST API that’s being worked on (which can be used for external integrations, but also for internal composition of modules) is also part of this effort to improve the layer separation.

While that covers some of the architectural/roadmap issues, your question about the licensing itself is still an interesting one, I’d like to understand that better also, so I’m hoping someone else can come here and answer it.