Clarification about APACHE 2.0 license

[jamesbellnet]

          >Yeah I don't fully understand why the change to deprecate the community theme when the official one hasn't had many updates and seems way less polished

You clearly don't know the tools you're using. The community version was first released in 2016, has never been updated since then, and was deprecated years ago. It was on the marketplace to give ppl time (actually years) to migrate. The official material theme supports new vscode features like semantic highlighting (which you can disable to restore old colors). Keep using obsolete and stolen work 👍

You ppl should learn how to work with open-source projects and read README files, there is a whole section about how to customize the theme, while supporting the project, instead of releasing cloned extensions.

There are people working for free on this open-source project, you're just disrespectful.

@azzazkhan if you want to support open source, read how to customize the theme based on your personal taste and stop using stolen work.

Originally posted by @equinusocio in #1273 (comment)

Sorry I have to address this - there is nothing "stolen" about this work, nor do I mean any disrespect. I think you're failing to understand the meaning of open source and the Apache 2.0 license that you licensed this software under.

Firstly, I altered the README to declare that this is a fork of the now deprecated original theme, and kept the link to the official material theme as it was. I also kept the author as it was under package.json, and any other links to related packages (i.e. the material icon theme).

I, like others, tried installing the official theme and noticed many differences from the community version that I was using. I didn't like those differences, nor do I have time to go through and make lots of changes in my settings.json file. I took it upon myself to keep the "COMMUNITY" material theme going, offloading any burden from yourself and hosting it myself for others that also don't want to customise the official version, but instead just want to stick with the theme they've been using for many years.

I have no intention to modify this theme, steal anyones work or fail to credit the original authors. As you can see from this issue, people liked the community theme as it was, and want to stick with it. All I have done is provided that, and by releasing software as open source and licensing it under the Apache 2.0 license you are granting permission for people to do as such.

[equinusocio]

All I have done is provided that, and by releasing software as open source and licensing it under the Apache 2.0 license you are granting permission for people to do as such.

Read again the APACHE 2.0 license and the redistributing section. You have to comply with some rules.

I'll make it easy for you:

4(b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices stating that You changed the files; and

You technically "removed/edited" all the files since you're publishing the same product/name, compared to this version of the same product.

4(c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
the Derivative Works; and

You have to add copyright and references in any distributed file

6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
   names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
   except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
   origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.

You have to change the name, i didn't allowed you to use the product name Material Theme

8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
   whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
   unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
   negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
   liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
   incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
   result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
   Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
   work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
   other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
   has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

By publishing another clone on the marketplace you're basically making damage to our financial contributors who pay to maintain this package, keep quality, and keep it free for everyone.

---

You are free to use the old extension, the bad is publishing it as an extension on the marketplace, creating another clone, and violating the license. I have worked on open-source since 2013, and i know very well what's wrong here. Is faster to clone and republish a work made by others instead of asking for help and waiting for a response. If you don't have time to learn the tool you use doesn't grant you any rights to do whatever you want with other's work.

[jamesbellnet]

From the Apache 2.0 license:

4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
      Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
      modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
      meet the following conditions:

@equinusocio You are still credited as the original author, and I appreciate your work and that of the other contributors. Again, I'm just trying to keep a theme alive that many of us still use. Thank you 🙏🏻

[equinusocio]

this is the intro of the section... there is a whole list of conditions if you proceed reading.

[jamesbellnet]

@equinusocio When I get chance I will happily update all files and the README stating yourself as the original author and directing everyone towards the official version. If you'd like to do it yourself and submit a PR, that's fine.

I didn't "technically remove" any files, that is not at all what that means. Nor have I modified any other than the readme where I have stated this is a fork of the original and now deprecated version.

I'm sorry this has bothered you so much, if you could remove the deprecation of this theme from the marketplace so people can continue to use it I'll happily remove the forked one I have published.

Again, we appreciate your work but some of us were happy enough with the "old" one - I'm not trying to steal it or profit from it in any way, just keeping it alive for those that want to use it.

[equinusocio]

I didn't "technically remove" any files, that is not at all what that means. Nor have I modified any other than the readme where I have stated this is a fork of the original and now deprecated version.

If you published the extension, you changed the package.json too. As quoted above, the license requires you to add the original copyright owner in any redistributed file (basically every file of the extension), plus indicate the changed files (all the themes JSON files for example). Adding a notice on the readme is not enough.

I'm sorry this has bothered you so much

I have fought against open-source stealing and license violations for 10 years. Open-source doesn't mean doing whatever you want. Right?

if you could remove the deprecation of this theme from the marketplace so people can continue to use it I'll happily remove the forked one I have published.

By the way, this would have been the correct way to ask, instead of republishing the extension. Now if you really want to collaborate here are the steps we can take, in this exact order:

1. Dreprecate or unpublish your extension from the marketplace. To do de deprecation you have to ask vscode team here and indicate the replacement extension. Is easier and faster to unpublish it.
2. I will add a link on the official theme (somewhere) where people can download and install the legacy version of the theme manually. We're not going to publish an 8-year-old version of the theme on the marketplace. This way people can still use the legacy version of the theme but all other 6 million users (and future ones) will keep using the original one.
3. You become an open-source friend person.

[jamesbellnet]

@equinusocio I have unpublished and removed the extension. I apologise if this wasn't the correct way to go about it, but it looked like it was going to disappear, and I and others wanted to keep using it. Thank you 🙏🏻

[equinusocio]

Perfect. I will proceed with step 2 today. I will make a new discussion with all the info and the link to download the legacy version. Then link it to the readme file and finally make a release of the official one.

[jamesbellnet]

That's great thank you 🙏🏻

[jamesbellnet]

@equinusocio I don't have time to get in lengthy debates about a VS Code theme, if you would like me to remove it from the marketplace I will do. If that is the case, I'm sure many of us would appreciate it if you can remove the deprecation warning. Failing that I'll just install a local version. Thank you.

[jamesbellnet]

You have to change the name, i didn't allowed you to use the product name Material Theme

I have changed the name, you'll notice on the marketplace it is suffixed with (Legacy).

By publishing another clone on the marketplace you're basically making damage to our financial contributors who pay to maintain this package, keep quality, and keep it free for everyone.

"This package", as you stated yourself, has not been maintained in years, was marked as archived, and deprecated from the VS Code Marketplace.

[equinusocio]

It has been updated over the years... becoming the official Material Theme. The legacy version is a snapshot of what the product was back in 2016, but still the same product.

[equinusocio]

@jamesbellnet I wrote here what to do. Let me know once you did the step 1.

#1276 (reply in thread)

[equinusocio]

As starting point, i made a new discussion about the redistribution
#1277

[equinusocio]

@jamesbellnet If you wish you can download the legacy theme here

New discussions created, added the link to the legacy version, released Material Theme official with the link inside the readme, and updated the community extension on the marketplace with the link.