Today GoGrid did something big, significantly smaller than the 2009 Obama Inauguration of course, but significant enough within the Cloud Computing community to warrant some attention. Today we released our GoGrid cloudcenter Application Programming Interface (API) specification under a Creative Commons license. This is particularly important to developers, system integrators, IT professionals and other companies as it allows them to openly copy, modify, distribute and republish our Cloud Computing API.
The Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license, under which the GoGrid cloudcenter API now falls, allows for the ability to:
- Share, distribute, display and perform the work
- Make derivative works
The GoGrid cloudcenter API re-use must, however, fall under the following Share Alike licensing conditions:
- There must be full attribution to GoGrid, author and licensor
- There is no implied endorsement by GoGrid of any works derived from the API usage or rework
- After any transformation, alteration or building upon this work, any distribution must be under the same, a similar or a compatible license
- You must make it clear to others about the terms of this license. The best way to do this is by linking to the GoGrid Wiki API page (link below)
- Any of the conditions mentioned previously can be waived with permission from GoGrid
Details on the GoGrid cloudcenter OpenSpec API license can be found within the GoGrid site and is specific to the API only. All content provided on the Wiki in the API “namespace” is covered by this Share Alike license, specifically under this URL: http://wiki.gogrid.com/wiki/index.php/API. Note however, this license applies only to content provided within the namespace plus any pages constrained by the URL plus a colon (”:”). For example:
INCLUDED under the license:
- http://wiki.gogrid.com/wiki/index.php/API:Anatomy_of_a_GoGrid_API_Call
- http://wiki.gogrid.com/wiki/index.php/API:Common_API_Call_Patterns
- http://wiki.gogrid.com/wiki/index.php/API:PHP_API_Developer_Home
NOT INCLUDED under the license:
FAQs
- How can I use it?
Anything that falls under the http://wiki.gogrid.com/wiki/index.php/API including anything within the namespace constrained by a colon is considered free-use under the Creative Commons license. You are free to view and edit, as well as re-work and re-publish changes to the API as you see fit. - How can’t I use it?
You cannot modify and re-publish or resell the GoGrid cloudcenter API without including attribution to GoGrid. We recommend that you do include a document, publically published and accessible, that discusses what changes were made to the GoGrid cloudcenter API. - How do I publish changes?
Any changes to or modifications of or repackaging of the GoGrid cloudcenter API should be documented on a public server and must include a link back to the GoGrid cloudcenter API documentation on the wiki. - Do I need to notify you when I make a change?
We encourage you to notify us when you publish modifications to the API. We will also monitor links or trackbacks to the GoGrid API documentation. Notification, however, is not a requirement. Documentation and attribution is, however, required. - How do you notify me when GoGrid makes a change to the spec?
We recommend that you regularly check the API namespace within the GoGrid wiki for changes or updates to the OpenSpec API. - Why is it important to notify GoGrid of changes?
In our effort to work towards driving standards, interoperability and transparency within the Cloud Computing Marketplace, communication between and by users and developers using the API will aid in a broader acceptance and usage within the community.
If you have additional questions regarding this information, feel free to leave a comment to this article.
It is our vision and goal within GoGrid to foster community building and collaboration within the Cloud Computing market. Our commitment to this vision is evident with this release of the GoGrid cloudcenter API under the Creative Commons Share Alike license.
