LOL... wow... Huge can of worms there.
Here’s how I’m going to see that MODx operates, despite what is either the letter or the spirit of the law mandates: Treat everyone (and the project and inspirations) like you like to be treated.
That means give people their fair credit for their ideas. Be respectful and courteous. Don’t fly off the handle and make ludicrous, rude, embittered and inaccurate assertions unless you were a party to what actually transpired. There’s noted potential for this discussion to denigrate into a childish turf war with plenty of name calling, but that benefits no one.
For reference – and as I understand it – the letter of the law is that once a product is GPL’d you’re free to do whatever you wish with it as long as you publish the source code if you distribute the code. (Note: please let’s not let this turn into a discussion of the nuances of the GPL as that’s been beaten to death ad nauseam elsewhere. 9000 times over by folks a lot smarter than me.)
MODx is an open source project which means people will inevitably "borrow"... I encourage it honestly, especially if we start not doing what the community wants. It either will keep us on our toes and innovative, or will give an outlet for our growing community to continue down the appropriate path. Even if we do what people want, people will still borrow or hide its source, and I’m OK with that too. Just please don’t complain to me if it breaks, ask me to support it, or otherwise continue taking without reciprocation or clear credit of original authorship.
Etomite was truly original and Raymond and I saw a ton of potential in it and wanted to play a role in its future. We’ve never once remotely tried to hide that fact. Regardless of the true reasons, it didn’t work out that MODx continued under the auspices of that community. Rather than see it die, we created this community and have continued to refine and rewrite the code with a ton of help from a lot of really great folks, both from an Eto-background and from other projects and skill areas.
And like Ralph , I harbor no ill will towards Etomite. I am thankful for its inspiration, as its been a key part of making MODx what it is today. There’s no real reason to discuss it further honestly. Bygones.
Now, back on topic folks! LOL