Created new output format HighCharts

[netbrain]

currently a single chart: FrequencyHistogram

This format is intended to be a simple way of adding very specific charts

Added temporary solution for:
#15

[netbrain]

Is it acceptable to add dependencies to higcharts in the form of a submodule? or is it preferred if i hardcopy it?

[mwjames]

Some general comments (I haven't looked at the implementation):

form of a submodule? or is it preferred if i hardcopy it?

When using submodules it is not possible to control its dependencies because whatever version is released to the module (at the time of replication) is used for the installation which would allow for a version to be installed it was not tested against. While highcharts is certainly an asset (or resource), the format as a whole unit is a php package therefore we rely on Composer to specify its dependencies doing otherwise would jeopardize the dependency management concept ([0, 1]).

I would say that vendoring (the version you have tested with should also accompany the package) is the way to go.

License

The bigger problem I see is with the license (the reason I never touched highcharts) because as the website states:

Free for Non-commercial Do you want to use Highcharts for a personal website, a school site or a non-profit organisation? Then you don't need the author's permission, just go on and use Highcharts. For commercial websites and projects, see License and Pricing."

Enabling it by default can potentially cause trouble for entities that not fulfill the above condition and therefore it must be clear to an end-user that additional obligations are attached to this format.

[0] http://blog.appfog.com/getting-lean-and-solving-problems-farewell-to-git-submodules/
[1] http://codingkilledthecat.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/why-your-company-shouldnt-use-git-submodules/

[mwjames]

@JeroenDeDauw @kghbln @yaronkoren Do you have any comments on the mentioned license issue above?

[kghbln]

I think that the licence is indeed a big problem since it cannot be guaranteed that SRF is only used in non-commercial environments. In fact "Wiki of the Month" already proves that this is not the case.

A way out will perhaps be to move this to an independent extension. Even then I strongly recommend to contact them for permission and to ask if this is an acceptable way. I still doubt they agree to something like this but it is probably still worth a try since these charts are really cool. Bundling this with SRF and not enable it by default does not work in my opinion since it is even harder to prove that one does not use it.

[netbrain]

Ill see what i can do about moving this into composer dependency
management, given we solve the licensing issue.

How about at first run of any highcharts format, it would output the
licensing question for the user instead of showing the chart. And to enable
the charts one would have to add a configuration variable to localsettings
file? By adding this configuration you hereby agree that this library is
used in lines with the license?
On Mar 4, 2014 4:10 PM, "mwjames" notifications@github.com wrote:

Some general comments (I haven't looked at the implementation):

form of a submodule? or is it preferred if i hardcopy it?

When using submodules it is not possible to control its dependencies
because whatever version is released to the module (at the time of
replication) is used for the installation which would allow for a version
to be installed it was not tested against. While highcharts is certainly
an asset (or resource), the format as a whole unit is a php package
therefore we rely on Composer to specify its dependencies doing otherwise
would jeopardize the dependency management concept ([0, 1]).

I would say that vendoring (the version you have tested with should also
accompany the package) is the way to go.
License

The bigger problem I see is with the licensehttp://shop.highsoft.com/highcharts.html(the reason I never touched highcharts) because as the
website http://www.highcharts.com/products/highcharts states:

Free for Non-commercial Do you want to use Highcharts for a personal
website, a school site or a non-profit organisation? Then you don't need
the author's permission, just go on and use Highcharts. For commercial
websites and projects, see License and Pricing."

Enabling it by default can potentially cause trouble for entities that not
fulfill the above condition and therefore it must be clear to an end-user
that additional obligations are attached to this format.

[0]
http://blog.appfog.com/getting-lean-and-solving-problems-farewell-to-git-submodules/
[1]
http://codingkilledthecat.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/why-your-company-shouldnt-use-git-submodules/

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//pull/18#issuecomment-36633760
.

[JeroenDeDauw]

Agree with @mwjames and @kghbln the license is problematic. An separate extension is indeed likely the best approach.

How about at first run of any highcharts format, it would output the licensing question for the user instead of showing the chart.

MediaWiki has not nice way of supporting something like this. And if you actually want to do it from on the wiki itself, then I'm not sure how you can do it without introducing a security liability.

If it goes into SRF, there should be a clear warning for users in the docs. That warning would also be there for people that don't care about this format at all, making things more confusing for them. This makes me think it is simply easier to have it in its own extension.

[netbrain]

@mwjames Do you have any idea of how to add create a resource/asset in composer? i've created a library package of the highcharts javascript files, however they gets installed under /mediawiki/vendor instead of /mediawiki/extensions/ext/vendor.

[netbrain]

I've added this as its own extension. Extension:SemanticHighcharts

[yaronkoren]

Sorry I missed this conversation before - but I think a separate extension makes sense, yes. I should note that this is the first MediaWiki extension I know of that includes non-"free" code. Not that that's necessarily a problem; it's just interesting.